Love, Lies and Pizza Pies
by RJ Lee
Summary: When the turtles are asked to help April's friend move into her new apartment, none of them expected to meet a new friend who would turn Donatello into a love-sick turtle or Raphael into a sweetheart. Becky soon finds herself welcomed into the family, but when the past comes back to haunt her, will she choose love or safety? Rated M-Language/Adult Situations
1. Chapter 1

Sunlight from the bright summer morning filtered into the packed up apartment, shining upon the stacks of cardboard boxes patiently waiting for the movers to arrive. Pale white squares covered the walls, once hidden by happy picturesque memories of family and friends, of good times from the past when once a happy couple shared this small one bedroom apartment. Meals for two were lovingly prepared in the yellow painted kitchen and eaten in the comfort of candlelight and Mozart.

Rebecca Spiegel shook her curly brown head at these distant memories, instead allowing the more recent visions of fighting and slamming of doors to echo through the now empty hall. Then, the loneliness when Scott moved out all of his belongings in a single night, after yet another verbal battle where both were trying to hurt the other one more, both succeeding and failing at the same time. Three years they'd shared their lives, their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams. Their home. So many wonderful memories made together, but where there once was love and happiness was now only a bitter memory lost in darkness and hatred. Such a waste.

For two long, quiet months, Becky had waited for Scott to return. Two months of her phone never ringing, her friends telling her to move on. Two months of a living hell where she refused to see what was really going on. It wasn't until just one week ago, when out for some retail therapy with her friend April O'Neil that she finally realized the truth, the realization coming in a hard blow that nearly destroyed her.

While stepping out of a boutique, armed with white bags of hair accessories, funky bracelets and long pendant necklaces, Becky and April were laughing, the first real laugh she'd had since Scott had left. Then, unexpectedly her laughs became tears as Scott and an unknown blonde walked past them, hand in hand, not even noticing the two friends as they sauntered by. Becky noticed him first, stopping dead in her tracks. April, not realizing her friend had stopped, turned to see the color drain from Becky's face. Tears pooled in her bright blue eyes as she could only stare at the couple in front of her.

Following her gaze, April's jaw dropped to see Scott lean over and kiss the blonde before they took off again down the street. Quickly rushing to Becky's side, April pulled her into a hug, allowing her to release the tears all over her brand new yellow leather jacket. The tears came out in a flood, an ugly force with riptides and jagged rocks. It was during the breakdown that April was finally able to convince Becky to leave her apartment behind and take a bigger one in her's and her boyfriend Casey Jones' building. For less than she was paying now, Becky would be able to have a nice two bedroom apartment and her best friend near by. It was an offer that she was no longer strong enough to refuse.

The door creaked open in the apartment, bringing Becky back to the present and April into the room. April surveyed the apartment, her red shoulder length hair flopping around in a pony tail as her she moved. She smiled at all of the packed boxes and pulled Becky into a friendly hug.

"You ready to do this?" she asked.

Becky took in a deep breath, looked around the room, biting into her lower lip. "As ready as I will ever be," she admitted.

April smiled, hugging her friend again. "Don't worry, you have me. And Casey. We will always be here for you. No matter what."

"Thanks, April." Becky looked around April's shoulder toward the hall of the apartment building.

"Where is Casey?"

April laughed. "He's downstairs with the movers, reminding them to behave themselves."

Becky raised an eyebrow at her friend. "And just why would they need to be reminded of this?" Uncertainty clung to her words. She'd let April handle most of the details of her move, including hiring the muscle to remove the boxes from the old place, and set them up at the new place. Becky never thought about asking for references or names, until this moment.

April looked at her friend and smiled again. "Don't worry, you can trust them. Besides, they were willing to work for pizza."

Becky raised both eyebrows, but kept her thoughts to herself. She trusted April and she knew her friend would never do anything crazy to hurt her. Trying to relax, she walked around the apartment, checking one last time to make sure everything was safely packed away into a box, including the memories of Scott. That mental box would never be opened again.

Outside on the street, Casey opened the back of the moving truck to let out the entourage of movers. Each of the four wore thick painter's overalls, ivory ball caps, work gloves and colored surgical masks. Casey reviewed his helpers and cracked a smile. He'd seen his friends in some pretty weird disguises over the years, but these really took the cake.

"And just what do you think is so funny, Dude?" asked the shortest of the movers from under his yellow surgical mask.

Casey forced himself to stop laughing, but the smile on his face gave him a way. "Well, Mikey, I'm laughing at how absolutely ridiculous you guys look!" he admitted, trying to keep from laughing again.

The mover in the red surgical mask walked over to Casey, pulled up his hat enough to look him straight in the eye. "You keep laughing like that, and I'll show you ridiculous."

Casey burst into another fit of laughter, slowly backing away from his friend.

The blue masked mover walked over, putting a hand on the red masked offender. "Yo, Raph, you gotta keep your cool. April and Casey's friend needs our help, but we don't want to blow our cover."

"Yeah, Leo, I know."

"Well, then, let's get to it," Casey said, putting his arm around Raph. "Okay, guys. Now, when we get up there, try to say as little as possible to Becky. We need to get in and get out as fast as we can to try to keep you guys from revealing our secret."

"That's right, guys. We don't want to scare the poor girl by revealing that we're turtles," Leo said, surveying his brothers.

"Yeah, it's not like these big bulks of green shells on our backs don't give that away already," Raph retorted.

"Well," said the quietest and tallest of the four from under his purple surgical mask. "If she were to ask, we could always tell her that we're wearing back braces. We are movers after all."

"Great idea, Donnie," Leo said, patting his brother on the back. "Now, let's get up there and get started on our mission."

"Yeah," said Mikey. "I'm already hungry for that pizza April promised us."

Casey shook his head. It was almost too easy to get his green, turtle friends to help him out. All he or April had to do was offer up pizza as a reward and they would do just about anything. Though, sometimes the ingredients were a little on the bizarre side, he was happy to whip up something special as a thank you.

Herding the guys into the elevator, he lead the way to the apartment of April's friend, ready to get the move started, and hoping beyond hope that the boys would keep their cover and not cause any trouble. For once.

As they entered the apartment, Becky and April watched the guys file in. Becky's head cocked to the side as she saw the team that Casey had brought with him. Checking for a reaction, April and Casey both sucked in a breath, not sure how they would explain if Becky noticed anything odd about their helpers.

The two had talked about all of the pros and cons in detail with Master Splinter before even offering the job to the guys. Usually, the brothers did their best to stay hidden in the sewer system of New York City with their Master, friend and adopted father Splinter, especially during daylight hours. Night time was different. The guys could often be found at night, fighting crime, donning costumes to go to a movie or even going to April and Casey's for a pizza night.

Over the past few years, the four had grown on April and Casey. Had it not been for the four brothers taking April in after a mugging where Raphael had saved her life, she may never have met Casey. Raphael was also the first turtle Casey had met, meeting him face to face in Central Park one night, after chasing a couple of hoodlum thugs into the park after they attempted to steal an old woman's purse. Raphael had put a stop to their theft, but it was Casey who was bound and determined to punish them for their misdeeds.

Against his better judgment, Raphael had come to the aid of the hooligans, saving them from the punishment of Casey's baseball bat. Though it wouldn't be until later, Casey and Raphael often attributed that night to the beginning of their crazy friendship. And through their friendship, April and Casey were able to meet and eventually fall in love.

Knowing that Casey and April cared for the turtles as much as they did for each other, Splinter agreed to mediate on the idea of the turtles to come to the surface during the day to help their friend. After a vision of the poor girl being in much need of his sons help and friendship, he quickly agreed, telling the boys to be careful with the young girls emotions and to watch for signs of change. At the utterance of the word change, he had uncharacteristically placed a loving hand upon Donatello's shoulder, following the word with a wink in his direction. Before Donatello had a chance to ask any of the questions flooding his mind, Splinter had limped away, leaving April to give out instructions for the move, as well as promises of pizza.

Casey clapped his hands, calling the room to attention. "Here's the game plan. Raphael and Michelangelo, you guys can start here in the living room with the couch, tables and entertainment center. Leonardo and Donatello, you guys can start in Becky's bedroom moving the bed and dresser. I'll move the television and lamps and you lovely ladies can very carefully move those boxes that say fragile to April's van. They're less likely to get broken that way."

Without uttering a word, the four movers nodded at their orders and set to work, moving at ninja fast pace. Becky looked over the guys, a quizzical look upon her face. She slowly motioned over to April, who picked up a box of figurines and moved slowly back toward her friend. Becky pointed quickly at the four guys as they moved back and forth with pieces of furniture. "Where did you find these guys again?"

"They're friends of mine and Casey's," April told her. Alarm bells rang in the back of her mind, but she pushed the thought aside.

"Such unusual nick-names. Did you meet them at an art club or something?"

April laughed, "Nope, those are their real names. Don't worry, they really are a great group of friends."

"And why haven't I met them before?"

April let out a worried laugh. "They are our special friends."

Before Becky could ask another question, April was out the door followed by Casey. Becky looked around at the movers again, peered at what looked to be a shell shape on their backs and opened her mouth to speak.

Somehow sensing what was going to be asked, all four movers at the same time shouted out "It's a back brace!" Becky stood dumbfounded in the center of the room, nearly dropping the box marked computer supplies that she held in her hands. The mover in the purple mask used his lightening speed reflexes to grab the box before it hit the ground.

"Careful with that," he said, his voice unexpectedly soothing. "You can never be too cautious with electronics. Especially computers."

Becky caught the deep brown color of his eyes from under his hat and smiled. "Yeah," she said softly. "Thanks." She took the box back from him and moved slowly toward the door. Daring to look over her shoulder, she turned just enough to see that the mover had stood in place, watching her go. She smiled again then took off for the elevator. Though she couldn't quite put her finger on it, the four strangers in her apartment greatly intrigued her, and she was bound and determined to figure out why.

Dropping the box off with April, she took the stairs back to her apartment, her mind still working overtime trying to figure out her movers. Pushing the thought away, she glanced around her slowly emptying apartment. Hope washed over her as she realized she was finally moving on with her life and leaving Scott nothing but a distant memory.

Donnie walked back into the apartment from his last load of heavy boxes labeled books. Before today, he'd never met anyone who owed as many novels and textbooks as he did. Based upon the weight and quantity of the boxes he'd taken downstairs to the truck, it was possible the girl may have even more than he did, which greatly impressed him. Smiling at her as she passed him in the doorway, he couldn't stop himself from watching her as she went by, taking note of the way her cheeks reddened when she caught his eye.

Wiping the back of his gloved hand against his forehead, he felt drops of sweat drip into the sleeve of his shirt. For just a moment, he would have loved to remove the mask, hat and gloves from his body just to cool off, but with the human not in on their secret, he knew he couldn't do it. Then again, Becky seemed like a trustworthy person so maybe, just maybe she would be okay with them being turtles. Then again, Master Splinter would likely kill him with extra training if he dared to reveal their secret without permission. Better to just stay hot and sweat it out, he decided.

The sound of footsteps from behind him caught his attention. Twirling around, he watched as Becky jumped back into the apartment and he couldn't help but smile at the girl as her pony tail bounced around. For the first time since they'd arrived he found himself right out staring at the girl studying her face, taking in her features. Wavy brown hair, bright blue eyes, pale skin and an adorable little nose. Her movements mesmerized him as she seemed to float from one box to the next, stacking them carefully on top of each other and carrying them two or three at a time out the door and down to the truck. Then she would bound back up the stairs to grab a few more, seemingly oblivious to his gawking.

Happiness oozed from her body as the apartment grew more and more empty with each trip and her smile grew wider. It awed him. Grabbing a large box, he cautiously made his way down the hall, following her into the elevator. Just before the doors closed, he shoved his foot in between them, forcing the elevator to open.

"Room for one more?" he asked.

Laughing, she nodded. "I think so, as long as you don't have personal space issues," she responded. He laughed back at her as he moved into the elevator. Their elbows touched as they rode the elevator down the three stories back to the ground level. Though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he felt something odd over take him as they waited for the doors to open. It felt almost like an electric current floating around them, but he had no idea what could be causing such a sensation. Before he could inquire if she felt anything, the ding of the elevator rang as the doors split open and she practically skipped over to Casey waiting inside the truck to load up her boxes.

Following slower behind her, he waited for Casey to help him pull the heavy box up into the truck. Turning around in time to see her start the climb back up the stairs, he thought about following her, but he couldn't bring his feet to move. There was something about that girl that just bothered him, though not necessarily in a bad way. He felt no threat from the girl, and knew she wasn't any danger to him or his family, but something that didn't quite click in his mind was definitely running through his head. Slapping his palm to his forehead, he tried to will the thought to come out, but it didn't work. Casey looked down at him, a concerned look upon his face. "Yo, Donnie. You okay man?"

Shaking his head, Donnie looked up at his friend. "I don't know. I think I may be coming down with something. I can't explain it, but I'm not really feeling like myself right now."

Smiling, Casey looked past Donatello and into the apartment building where Becky had just disappeared. With a knowing smile, he put a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "You're a smart guy, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."


	2. Chapter 2

As the last of the boxes were brought carefully into the new apartment, Becky, April and Casey all let out small sighs of relief. Becky was happy to finally be in an apartment with no lingering memories of a love that no longer existed, ready to start the next chapter of her life. April and Casey silently exchanged smiles, glad that their friends had been able to all occupy the same space without any secrets being revealed or anyone fainting.

The late afternoon sun brightened the apartment, and with it, the reminder that it was well past lunch time and everyone was hungry. Casey offered to have everyone over to his and April's apartment to rest before the unpacking started, and to eat some fine homemade pizzas. Exhausted and hungry, the group headed over to the larger apartment down the hall.

Leo and April crashed on the light tan carpet in the living room of the apartment as Donnie and Raph fell onto the large brown couch. Becky fell between them, lightly hitting Raphael's thigh, a bright blush upon her cheeks. Raph smiled back at her, his green eyes brightening. Turning away from him, Becky watched as Mikey followed Casey into the kitchen to help prepare lunch.

Pulling out the dough, sauce, and cheese from the fridge, Casey called over his shoulder to the hungry mob in the other room. "So, what does everyone want on their pizza."

"Everything," replied Mikey as he scrounged around in the pantry, pulling out marshmallows and assorted candies.

"Sausage and pepperoni," April called out as she lay back on the floor.

"I'm in a lettuce and carrots mood," Leo answered, rubbing his sore arms.

Raph smirked at Becky, orneriness growing inside of him. "Flies and worms for me," he said at the same time Donnie and Becky chorused in unison "nothing with marshmallows," drowning out his order.

Becky and Donnie looked at one another, smiles on both of their faces before they both shyly turned away. Leonardo, the only one who had heard Raphael's request, glared daggers at his brother. Raph stared back at his brother, silently daring him to do something about it. "I need to see you outside," Leo snarled at Raph.

Raph rolled his eyes, slinging an arm around Becky's shoulder, his fingers brushing against Donatello's shoulder. "Sorry dear brother, but I find myself much too comfortable to want to move."

"It wasn't a.." Leo began but was interrupted.

"You guys are brothers?" Becky asked, looking over back and forth between Leo and Raph.

Softening his face, Leo smiled up at her. "Adopted brothers, yes."

"Oh," she said. "So, you weren't born with these strange names, then?"

Leo shook his head and smiled at her again. "No they were give to us by our father. He has a love of art and named us after his favorite artists."

"That's a pity," Becky said. The brothers all stared at her. "Oh, it's nothing bad, I love your names. I just wish one of you had been named Monet is all."

Donnie let out a laugh, that was quickly joined by the rest of the room. "I take it you are a water lily fan," he stated more than asked.

Becky smiled, looking back at him. "Isn't everybody?" she responded.

Mikey, usually the last to get a joke nudged Casey. "Who's Monet?" he whispered, trying to keep the others from hearing his question.

Casey shrugged. "Some kind of artist I guess," he whispered back.

The two went back to rolling out the dough and piling on ingredients. Casey looked over at Leo, who appeared to be in a better mood. "Sorry, Raph, but we appear to be out of flies today. How about your usual?"

Raph avoided the newest glare from Leo and nodded his agreement toward Casey. He knew he should be on his best behavior, but things had been going so well up until now that he figured he could be a little more like his true self. Sarcasm and cracking wise was second nature to him, and as the day dragged on, it was becoming harder and harder to control himself. But, he also knew the secret of his and his brothers true identity was at stake, so he forced himself to remain quiet while the pizzas baked in the oven.

His family was very important to him, as well as his friendship with both Casey and April. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that. Though, a small part of him truly believed after spending the morning with Becky that she wouldn't be too freaked out if she were to learn the truth about them. She seemed trust worthy of their secret. Besides, she was cute for a human, and her giggles intrigued him. With any luck, things would go so well, he'd be able to spend a little more time with this human girl.

Of course, it had been only a few hours, and though she liked their names, she had no idea that the team of movers had in fact been turtles. Highly trained ninja turtles, no less. The few people who knew their secret had all found it hard to believe. Hell, there were times that he himself couldn't believe that his three glass bowl partners had found themselves in a sewer with a rat, mutated into humanoid type creatures to become secret crime fighters. It was something straight out of science fiction-yet here they were, in April and Casey's apartment, chowing down on pizza and having a good time. He wasn't about to ruin it now.

After the pizza disappeared, the group found themselves back over at Becky's new apartment. Just a few days before, April, Casey and Splinter had spent hours repainting all of the walls, giving the place a new coat of paint, making it seem like new. Becky walked around the boxes to survey her new home happy to see the walls painted blue as opposed to the usual white of most apartments. The place was about twice the size of her old apartment, which gave her plenty of space to branch out and best of all, it held no memories of a relationship gone wrong.

She chose the first room to use as her bedroom, and stood for a moment in the doorway of the room to watch Leo and Donnie work together to put her bed back together. She loved the amount of space between the foot of the bed and the dresser. In the old apartment, she and Scott had both tripped over the bed too many times to count due to the lack of space. Now, she would be able to actually open the drawers all of the way to find what she needed for the day.

As the top mattress fell into place, Becky turned to look into the second bedroom. Only needing one, she had opted to turn this room into an office. April had given her a spare desk from the antique store below the apartments that had once belonged to April's father. Becky gently ran her fingers over the desk. She breathed in the fragrance of the cherry wood, hopeful that the smell would help her stay focused on her writing. She glanced behind her at the empty book shelves that waited to be filled with bound copies of her future plays and stories. Maybe even a future best seller. If she could just get herself to fill a blank page with words.

A knock on the door brought Becky away from her future manuscripts and face to face with Donatello. She stared blankly at him for a moment, briefly forgetting where she was and what she was doing. She wasn't exactly sure what it was that caught her so off guard with this brother over the other three, but there was definitely something.

"I apologize for startling you," he said. "We're all done out here. I just wanted to see if there was anything more you needed from us?"

Becky smiled. "You guys have done way more than I expected. I do hope that helping me hasn't kept you from more important things."

Donnie smiled and shrugged. "No, today was a welcomed distraction. My brothers and I don't really get out much. We spend most of our day in the, ummm at our home. Heck, I'd probably be building a computer or something if I were there."

"Computer geek, eh?" Becky laughed. "Well, then there is one more thing I could use your help with, if you are sure you don't mind."

Donnie smiled at her, thankful that the mask on his face covered up the blush growing upon his cheeks as he looked back at the pretty girl in front of him. "Anything," he said in a near whisper. Becky smiled and pointed at the box labeled _Computer Supplies _from their encounter earlier that morning. Donnie followed her gaze and laughed. "That's no problem at all."

He quickly snatched up the box and set to work pulling out the laptop and scanner from the box. Becky walked over to the other side of the room to grab the printer and surge protector. Placing them in front of Donatello, he smiled up at her. He clenched his teeth against his tongue and set to work plugging everything in and make sure it all installed correctly.

As Donnie hit the power switch, Leo knocked on the door, causing both Donnie and Becky to jump. "You've been back here awhile. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Donnie replied. "I'm just playing turtle geek squad."

As the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted them. Leo's face grew horrified as both brothers looked up to see Becky's expression. Becky let out a small giggle. "Turtle geek squad. Ha! You are much faster than a turtle," she said, slapping him on the back.

A sharp pain radiated through her fingers as she hit the hardness of his back. "Owwwww!" she drew out, her voice raising a few octaves, grabbing her bruising fingers with her good hand. Donnie, feeling terrible, quickly turned to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Guilt washed over him knowing that he had caused pain to such a sweet girl. He grabbed her hand to exam it as Leo ran out of the room. He returned a moment later with a bag of ice, and the entourage of friends behind him.

"Is she okay?" Leo asked, handing the bag to Donnie.

Donnie bit down on his tongue, turning her hand over. "There's going to be some swelling, but I don't think anything's broken." Donnie carefully placed the bag of ice on top of Becky's swelling knuckles and held it in place as she jumped from the sting of the cold. "You'll need to keep ice on it for a few hours in twenty minute intervals to help keep the swelling down."

Becky looked at him as though she wasn't comprehending his words. Donnie took in a deep breath, anticipation of her inevitable question growing in him. He cursed himself for being the one to spill the secret since he was by far the most cautious of the four. He kept his eyes locked on her as she let out a heavy sigh, took the bag from Donnie and inspected her own hand. With a frown, she placed the bag back on her knuckles and looked him straight in the eye. "That is one heavy duty back brace you have there," she finally said.

Donnie let out the breath he'd been holding. "You have no idea."


	3. Chapter 3

Three days passed slowly in the darkness of their lair. Three days since they'd seen the sunlight, three days since they'd had Casey's home made pizza, and three long days since he'd looked into those beautiful blue eyes and wanted to spill every secret he had ever had.

Looking around his workshop, Donnie picked up a circuit board in hopes that it would offer up some distraction. Picking up his screwdriver, he went to remove a screw, but dropped the board as a small electrical shock ran up his arm. He was distracted, he knew it. She was the only thing his brain would allow him to concentrate on. Her smile, her voice, those pale blue eyes that burned into his brain. Then the memory of her injury, the swelling of her hand after she playfully went to hit him. Oh, the guilt that still plagued him for hurting such a sweet and fragile creature. He hoped she was all right. It had been three days since he last saw April and he was hopeful she would show up today so that he could inquire about Becky's recovery. But, even better would be for him to be able to go up to the surface, to that newly painted apartment and see for himself the healing progress her hand was making.

He quickly banished the thought from his brain. It would be quite foolish to venture up to the surface to see a girl who he knew very little about. Granted, he knew she was an intelligent woman. One who had eyes so beautiful that he could easily get lost him them. A woman who's touch was soft and gentle, a woman who smelled of fresh lilacs. A woman who's memory would not leave his thoughts. And a woman who had no idea that he was in fact a mutant turtle.

Donnie picked up the broken toaster from his work bench, peering into the reflection. Yes, he was in fact a turtle, and he had no business daydreaming of a human girl. Especially one that had just lost her mate and was trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered heart. But try as he might to bury the insane thought, a small part of him hoped that maybe, just maybe, he could be the one to help her glue those pieces back together.

"I wondered when you were finally going to get around to fixing that," came a voice from his workshop door.

Startled, Donatello jumped, losing his grip on the toaster. He watched in sheer horror as the toaster slipped out of his hand and fell onto the hard concrete floor below, busting the cover off.

"Guess I'll just go buy a new one at Bed, Bath and Beyond while I'm out," April said, shaking her head.

Donnie scrambled to pick up the pieces, placing them back upon his work bench. "Oh, hey there April. Don't, don't you worry. I'll be able to fix it. It'll be good as new in no time."

April laughed, walking into the room and taking a seat upon the stool next to his welder. She looked at Donnie, who tried hard to avoid her gaze. A knowing smile crept upon her face. "What has you so distracted?" she asked, the smile refusing to fade.

Donnie looked around the room, at his hands, at the even more broken toaster on his work bench, anywhere other than at April. "Oh you know. Quantum physics. Global warming. Pavlov's dog experiment."

"Pavlov's dogs, huh?"

"Oh, yes. I mean think about it. Can't you just imagine ringing a bell for Mikey when a pizza is ready and seeing the amount of saliva he produces?"

April laughed again. "Something tells me you have no intentions of setting up such an experiment. In fact, I think I know what you're really thinking about so intently."

"You do?" he asked, his cheeks reddening.

"A cute little brunette who stands about an inch or two shorter than yourself."

Donnie smiled, finally allowing himself to look at April. "Is she okay?" he asked, referring to more than just her hand.

April reached out, placing a friendly hand upon his shoulder. "She's fine. I took her to the doctor, he told her the ice was the best thing for her for the first twenty-four hours and to keep it elevated as best as possible. But, I think her hand is the least of her worries."

Donnie's face dropped in concern. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well," April said, trailing off. Donnie sat in the chair beside the stool, silently urging her to go on. "It turns out that three days ago, she met this guy who intrigues her and she would really like to get to know him better."

Donnie perked up. "Go on."

"Well, at first, I told her that it was impossible, that there were extenuating circumstances that were beyond our control and that we really couldn't tell her any more about this certain someone."

"But?" Donnie urged, certain that the hesitation in her voice was leading somewhere.

April sighed. "But she persisted. First asking me questions, then going to Casey hoping that he would crack. We stayed as strong as we could, hoping that if we kept silent long enough that she would finally get tired of asking and drop the inquisition."

Donnie's face fell again. "Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, she's a beautiful human princess and I'm simply an ugly toad. Er... turtle."

April laughed. Running her hand across the fragments of her toaster, she turned away from the turtle. With a soft sigh, she continued. "Well, the plan started to work, until your brother showed up."

Donnie perked up again, hope returning to his heart. "Which brother? What did he do? Is she okay? Why do you keep pausing, April? Tell me!"

April laughed and took Donatello's hand into her own. "Breath Donnie. Zen." Donnie flashed her a look, and she laughed again. "Last night, Becky came over, and after about two hours of getting no where with me with any of her questions, she began to gave up. Then, Raphael showed up at the fire escape looking for Casey. He had no idea that Becky was there and unfortunately neither did Casey."

"Uh oh," Donnie said, hope still in his heart, blanketed lightly with a bit of jealousy toward his brother. "Did she see him? Did she freak out?"

April laughed. "Jeez, you ask about as many questions as she does. Yes, she did see him and no she didn't freak out."

"So what happened?" Donnie urged, but before April could respond, a female voice came from behind him.

"I told him it was too early for Halloween and to take off the hideous mask before it scared innocent children."

Raphael scoffed as he followed the female voice into the room. "And I told her I felt the same way about the hideous mask she had on."

Donnie turned on his heel, looking up to see Raphael and Becky standing in the doorway, Raph's arm draped around the girl's shoulders. The jealousy spiked again, seeing his brother so close to the woman that made his heart sing about birds and rainbows and unicorn sparkles, but he did his best to remain calm.

"So, I threw a pillow at him, told him that his kind wasn't wanted around these parts and to leave before I called the men with the butterfly nets," Becky continued as she smiled up at the hotheaded brother.

"Then I told her that turtle haters had no business being in the apartment." Raphael hugged her and she jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

"Hey, I told you I have no problem with turtles. It was the unshowered wanna-be super hero that I couldn't stand to be around."

Raphael laughed, hugging her against his chest. His smile stretched the entire length of his face, something rarely seen on the usually angry turtle. "After that, I decided I couldn't just stand there and take her verbal abuse, so I tackled her to the ground and told her to watch her smart ass mouth before I had no choice but to fall in love with her." Raph hugged the girl closer to him, her arm now around his waist and her head leaning against his shoulder. Framed by the doorway, the two resembled a happy couple from any basic cable sitcom as though at any moment, the music would change and they would be locked in an embrace.

Donnie's heart sank as he saw Raph's arms tighten around her neck and a smile spread across her face as she looked up at the least emotionally stable turtle. The jealousy turned to an unexpected feeling of rage, and an overwhelming fantasy of knocking his fist into Raph's head crossed his mind. Surely someone like her couldn't fall for someone like Raphael. She was smart, sophisticated and kind. Raphael was a smart mouthed, hot head with anger management issues. Surely the looks on their faces meant nothing and there was nothing really going on between the two of them. Surely.

Turning away from Raphael, Becky looked over at April who was smiling back at her. "But alas, it was not to be as I had already decided I liked his super smart brother instead," she said, lifting the brick from Donnie's heart, and causing a smile to spread like wildfire across his face. Never in his life had he felt so much joy and happiness than he did at that very moment.

Raphael caught the look on his brother's face. A mischievous grin spread across his own face, and he quickly decided to taunt his brother even more, pulling Becky even closer against him. "Of course, I told her that you were already betrothed to a female turtle much like your self by the name of Venus de Milo but I would gladly be a consolation prize."

"You did what!" Donnie cried out, jumping out of the chair, ready to tackle his brother to the ground and turning his punching fantasy into a reality.

Becky laughed, and dug her elbow into Raph's side as she took a step away from him. Laughing, she looked up at the purple masking wearing turtle. "He's just screwing with you, Donnie."

Donnie released a breath as he nearly ran over to Becky. Raph reluctantly released his grip on her, allowing Donnie to take her hands and pull her close to him. She winced as he grabbed her hand, reminding him of the pain he'd caused her just days before. "I'm so sorry," he said, taking her hand carefully into his, lifting up so he could exam it once more.

Her knuckles were bruised, but the swelling had gone down considerably. He braved a soft kiss to her hand, then blushed at the bold move that he had made. She smiled up at him, and he noticed the crimson rising in her cheeks. He looked down at her hand nestled softly into his, and suddenly he became very much aware that he was a turtle and she was not.

A wave of questions washed over him, but he wasn't sure how to begin. He quickly released her hand and looked from April to Raphael, hoping one of them would break the silence since he had suddenly forgotten how to speak.

Silence filled the air, but was broken moments later as a thud came from behind Raphael and Becky. The group all looked behind them to see Casey, a look of shear panic on his face. "I need the boys in green," he panted, trying hard to catch his breath. "We have a situation street-side and it's not pretty."

The small group made their way down the hall, meeting the others in the commons area of the lair.

"What's wrong, Casey?" Leo asked, sitting up from the couch in the den.

Casey took another deep breath and held onto Raph's shell. "Your least favorite walking kitchen utensil has somehow managed to re-form his army of foot soldiers and they are back to their old tricks." Casey walked to the make shift coffee table, picked up the remote and switched over to channel 3 news. The screen filled with a live shot of Central Park, a couple dozen foot soldiers chasing screaming civilians.

Leo stood up from the couch, his eyes narrowing in on the television. "Guys, grab your gear. It's time for action."

Mikey appeared from the rafters above, landing on his feet, his nunchucka waving around in his hands. "Let's kick some foot solider butt." Looking over at Becky, his expression changed towards confusion, his nunchucks coming to a stop as he noticed her standing there.

Before he could ask any questions, Leo, Raph and Donnie ran into the Dojo and returned seconds later with their weapons in hand. Master Splinter followed behind them, pushing them towards the exit of the lair. "Go quickly my sons. There is no time to waste." Donnie shot a quick look in Becky's direction, but kept moving. "I shall keep our guest company my son. You, go do what must be done."

"Yes, Master," Donnie replied. He glanced up at Becky one more time to see that she was unfazed by what she saw around her. Her lack of emotion phased him slightly, but he pushed the thought out of his mind, filing it away until he could speak to her alone. Following his brothers, Donnie made his way up the ladder, through the sewer tunnels toward Central Park.

April, Casey, Splinter and Becky watched as the fearless foursome headed out for battle. They watched the screen as more of the foot terrorized innocent visitors of the park. They heard as screams broke out and the watched as the screen turned fuzzy and finally black as something, or perhaps someone, jammed the signal of the camera.

Splinter took her hand into his aging, fragile paw. She neither backed up nor freaked out. Instead, she carefully held on to him, allowing him to guide her through the lair instructing April and Casey to notify them they moment the television signal was restored. As if floating on air, he guided Becky through the living room and into the dojo. Her eyes widened as she scanned the weapons along the walls and the workout equipment sprawled about the large room.

Out of the corner of her eye, she took note of a simple black sword hanging upon the wall. Tuning out Master Splinter's explanation of the turtle's vigorous daily routine, she walked slowly toward the sword. Splinter's voice trailed off as he observed the strange look on the young woman's face as she stared intently at the blade.

As she came closer to the sword, she hesitantly reached out her hand, fingering the rounded metal separating the sword's blade and handle. Her finger traced the outline of the large dragon, her eyes looking to the blade, where the two different metals blended together so perfectly that it resembled the fiery breath of the dragon.

Splinter's eyes narrowed as he took in the sight. He stepped slowly in her direction, never taking his eyes off of her curious movements. She felt the warmth of his breath on her arm but couldn't bring herself to look away to face him. Still fingering the carved dragon, she forced herself to turn away and look at Splinter, her eyes showing the confusion she felt.

"This reminds me of the sword my uncle had when I was a young girl. It hung in his room in a glass case. I was never allowed to touch it, but I would sneak into his room sometimes just to admire it. I loved how the metal looked like fire from this dragon here."

"Your uncle had a Japanese Katana like this one?" Splinter asked, eying her carefully.

"Step-uncle actually. He was my father's step-brother from when my grandmother married a Japanese man a few years after grandpa passed away after a battle with cancer. My father and he were never really very close, but when I was child, he helped my mother raise me after my father died." She ran her finger along the handle of the sword, admiring it along the way. "His sword looked so much like this one. The dragon was just a bit smaller, and the bottom here was made from ivory not wood like this. But other than that..."

Splinter's brow creased as he frowned, but she was too engrossed in the katana to notice him. She slowly dropped her hand and sighed. She turned back to Splinter and he gently took her hand. "Come with me, my child. There is still so much to see." Taking one final glance at the sword, she smiled at him and followed him out of the dojo toward the bedrooms.

First was Michelangelo's, covered in posters of the latest super models, a hulu girl lamp on the bedside table and comic books littering the floor. His bed was unmade, the sheet balled up on the floor, the pillow turned sideways in the middle of the bed and a small teddy bear heaped on it's head against the wall. Splinter shook his head at the sight, vowing to make sure the mess was cleaned up the moment the boys made it home.

Next to Mikey's room was a spotlessly clean room filled with old Japanese books, a bamboo mat set out in the middle of the room, bare walls and a perfectly made bed. On the bed lay the book "A Book of Five Rings The Classic Guide to Strategy."

Splinter caught Becky's look and smiled. "Leonardo is always reading and studying. He takes his role as leader very seriously. Sometimes, a bit too seriously I'm afraid."

Further down was a room with a closed door that strictly warned of bodily harm to anyone who dared to enter. "Raphael's?" Becky asked with Splinter nodding his response. "I wonder what he has in there."

Splinter's eyes sparkled as he laughed. "Oh, who knows. A dead body or two perhaps."

Becky let out a small laugh. "Or maybe a book about sarcasm for dummies."

Splinter smiled and ushered her still further down the hall to the final room. "This is the room you will find the most interesting my child." He led the way to the open door of Donatello's room. Peering inside she instantly noticed the large computer system on the plain brown desk, shelves of engineering books and blueprints and a poster of one Albert Einstein taped to the wall. She smiled as she entered the room, admitting to herself that she had always had a great fondness of geeks in her life.

She sat on his bed and looked around the room, falling in love at once at how much like her own office it looked. All it needed was a bean bag in the corner, the periodic table above the desk, and the shelves covered in bound scripts and she could have easily mistaken it for home.

"There are a few more areas on the other side of the lair, if you would like to see them," Splinter said. "Or you could stay in here a bit longer."

Becky smiled sheepishly. "No, no. I would love to see everything." She stood from the bed, taking care to smooth out the wrinkles with her hand. Stepping out of the room, she noticed the door to a room next to Donnie's. "What's in there," she asked, pointing to the door with her finger.

Without turning around to follow her gaze, Splinter replied, "That room is currently empty. Though I suppose it will be needed sometime soon."

Becky cocked her head in confusion, but was unable to find the words to ask him what he meant by such a statement. Following him down the corridor, they once again passed through the living room area.

"No change yet," Casey reported, staring hard at the jumbled mess on the screen.

"Thank you, Casey." Splinter continued the tour by motioning toward a room off of the back of the living room, but not heading toward it. "Back there is my room. I spend some of my time in there reading like Leonardo, but mostly when I'm back there, I'm meditating."

"I see."

Splinter walked passed another corridor, waving his hand in the general direction but not veering off course. "Back there are the bathrooms and showers. Not much to see but they are there if you should ever need them."

Becky laughed, surprised that they would have bathrooms and showers, but realized that it shouldn't be much of a surprise at all. They were pizza eating creatures. Of course they would need to use the bathroom, and it's not like they were uncivilized creatures who just did their business on the floor. She giggled at the thought, but quickly bit her lip to silence the laugh as to keep from having to share the thought with Splinter. He seemed nice enough, but she wasn't quite sure of his sense of humor.

They walked a bit further until they reached a four-way corridor with caution tape plastered around every exit. "This is where Donatello spends much of his time. This is his equivalent of a man's garage so to speak. Each of the four areas is a different project, all of which he keeps top secret. I, myself, am not even sure what it is he is working on, but knowing him, whatever it is, it is for the good of our family."

Becky turned around, looking back toward the direction of the living room. "It's so far from his workshop," she thought out loud, not realizing she had until she heard Splinter voice a response.

"That's the way he wanted it. Back there he can work on smaller projects and be closer to his brothers. But over here, this is his own little world. Very rarely are any of us allowed to be back here while he is working. Donatello enjoys his privacy, or maybe he feels it is for the safety of his brothers. No matter his reasons, we respect them." Splinter looked over at Becky, looking her straight into the eye. "I respect my sons, just as they respect me. I may not always understand their decisions, and at times I may even question them, but they are all free to do what they feel is best and not even I can talk them out of those choices."

Becky lowered her eyes, certain that she could easily be one of those decisions in the not so distant future. "Yes, Splinter," she said softly.

Splinter rested a hand upon her shoulder and smiled. "Fear not my child. Donatello has a very good head upon his shoulders. I worry least about him."

She perked up, her eyes glistening as she nodded towards the rat. "And which do you worry about the most?" she asked.

Splinter smiled. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by April's yell notifying them that the news report had finally returned to normal. With surprising speed, Splinter ran down the hallway, back to the television, Becky trailing behind him.

She rounded the corner just in time to hear the reporter say that Central Park had been cleared out, all hostages returned unharmed and currently being questioned by police. "The reports coming in from the victims are rough cut," the reporter continued "but from what we are able to piece together, it sounds like four super heroes in green costumes arrived just in time to fend off the thugs and rescue the citizens of New York."

"Green costumes!" Raphael's groan came from behind them. "Hey lady, these ain't no costumes!"

"Yo, she can't hear you, Dude," Mikey explained, heading toward the kitchen. Raphael rolled his eyes at his brother and plopped down on the couch.

Donnie and Leo sauntered in from the outside, taking care to cover the entrance as they did. Leonardo walked over to Splinter, bowing in front of him. Donnie took a knee beside his brother, motioning to Raphael and Michelangelo to do the same. Mikey quickly shut the freezer door, dropping a pizza onto the counter as he ran out of the kitchen. Raphael released an exaggerated sigh, sliding down from the couch onto the hard ground below him.

"Master Splinter," Leonardo began. "We believe that the battle with the foot clan was simply a test by the Shredder. It was almost too easy to defeat them and release the hostages."

Raphael stood up. "How do you know we just haven't learned to kick some foot clan ass a little better over the years, huh Leo?"

Leo ignored his brother, keeping his eyes glued to his master. Becky looked over the brothers then her eyes searched Splinter's face. She wasn't sure, but for some reason the idea of Raphael uttering the word 'ass' in front of Splinter didn't sit well for her. She watched as Splinter also seemed to ignore Raphael's out burst and instead waved his hand to urge Leonardo to continue.

"I feel that there is another battle in the works. I'm not sure when or what, but I can feel it's coming."

Splinter looked his son in the eye. "Then my son, you know what you must do."

Leonardo closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and stood up. "Yes Master." He turned to his brothers, motioning for them to stand and follow him. "Donatello and Michelangelo, you come with me. Raphael, Master Splinter will want to talk with you before you join us in the Dojo."

It was then that Becky realized that Splinter's calm demeanor had changed, and a hard gaze was placed upon Raphael. Raphael kicked the couch, then followed his master toward the back room. Leo's lips curled into a small smile that vanished quickly, but Becky had caught it. Already she could tell there was a power struggle going on between Leo and Raph, and she wasn't exactly sure which one had the best chance of coming out on top.

Leo waved his hand again as he headed for the Dojo. Donnie and Mikey waved their goodbyes to their human friends and followed him silently. Once they were inside, the muffled sounds of their grunts and yells could be heard over the television.

"You'll want to sit down," Casey said, turning up the volume on the set. "Leo has been known to keep those guys in there for hours training and exercising."

Before she had a chance to move, a sai flew through the air in front of the television, landing straight in the center of a dart board hanging from a wall. Becky's heart skipped a beat from the fear, but Casey and April sat unfazed, channel surfing until Casey found a hockey game on the television.

With a roar, Raphael stormed out of Splinter's room, mumbling swear words under his breath. He grabbed a trench coat and hat off of a coat rack next to the TV, pulled his sai out of the board and headed for the door. Ignoring their friend, April and Casey kept their eyes glued to the hockey game, doing their best to avoid any possible backlash from the turtle. Without a second thought, Becky turned on her heels to race after him. April looked after her, calling for her to come back, but Becky pretended she didn't hear her. Instead, she closed the entrance gate behind her and took off after Raph down the darkened sewers where she had not idea where she was going.


	4. Chapter 4

Moving as quickly as her legs could carry her, she sloshed through puddles chasing after the angry turtle. Though probably not the smartest thing she'd ever done in her life, there was something pulling at her to stay with him. Maybe it was a budding friendship, maybe it was insanity, but either way, she willed herself to keep going. As she closed in on him, he turned around suddenly, his green eyes now a dark black. He grabbed her arm, twisted it around her back and pinned her against the wall cursing loudly in her ear. Realizing who had followed him, he released his hold on her and spun her back around to face him.

"Becky! What the hell are you doing here?" His voice was hard as gravel with just a hint of surprise.

"I followed you." She paused, long enough to catch her breath. "I thought you might need a friend."

Raph turned hot on his heels to walk away from her, doing his best to avoid her gaze. In a flash, she jumped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "I don't need nobody!" he yelled, still avoiding her gaze.

She refused to balk at his anger. "I don't buy that bullshit for a second," she said, her voice stern but somehow still friendly. His head snapped forward, his eyes now locked onto hers. She stood up onto her tiptoes so that she was now eye level with the angered turtle. In an attempt to scare her off, he put his nose against hers, his breath heavy against her face. Gulping, she pushed her nose into his face, gritting her teeth. "I'm not letting you go anywhere without me."

Raphael shook his head, shocked by her sudden headstrong toughness. None of his brothers had ever followed him before, let alone some fragile human. Her persistence amused him, but he kept the anger locked onto his face. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Neither do you," she replied.

He let out a heavy sigh, and unclenched his jaw. This chick was crazy. He liked crazy. "Okay. All right. Let's go." He grabbed her hand not noticing the wince as pain ran through her. Leading her down a maze of dimly lit sewer pipes that all looked exactly the same to her, Raphael continued on his way. From the sides of the sewer, she could hear the sound of squeaks and tiny feet rustling around. She could only assume that the sounds were from rats and mice looking for food and was sure they wouldn't be nearly as cute as the giant rat they left behind in the lair. She closed her eyes, trying not to think about them.

"Where are we going?" she asked though she realized she was past the time to ask questions. He squeezed her hand a little tighter but didn't answer her. Instead, he took off in a faster speed in which she had to sprint beside him to keep up. Just before she feared she would pass out from the run, he stopped. Looking back behind them into the darkness, he listened for a moment. The only sound that she could hear was the sound of her heavy breathing as she tried to recover from their journey.

Looking down at her, he smiled and squeezed her hand again. "This is my special thinking place. No one else knows about it but you. I would make you promise to keep it a secret, but even if you were foolish enough to out me, there's no way you would ever be able to get back here." Too tired to speak, she could only nod her agreement to his statement. "You're gonna love it," he said, his voice suddenly soft.

Taking a quick turn, she could see the faint signs of light at the end of the sewer tunnel. Raphael released her hand, and pushed open the grate in front of them, revealing sunlight and fresh air. "Stay close to me," he ordered, taking her hand again, this time much more carefully.

He stepped cautiously into the light onto a very small ledge, barely large enough for the two of them. He jumped onto a large boulder and held both of her hands so she could jump, too. Then he slowly led her along the boulder making sure she had proper footing as they moved. Her ears perked up as she heard the sound of rushing water in the distance but she couldn't quite make out from where the sound was coming. As they rounded the other side of the boulder, she stopped in surprise to see a waterfall. "It's beautiful," she said in a breathy voice.

From beside her, she heard him laugh. "It's peaceful, too." He tugged her hand again, pulling her along a small path onto a larger ledge below. On the ledge was a meditation mat, similar to the one she'd seen in Leo's room, but with far more tatters and tears. "I found this place a couple years ago. I come here a lot to just think."

Becky looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "But, why do you need the disguise to come here?" she asked. "There's no way anyone could see you from here."

Raphael laughed as he removed the clothing and placed the articles in a neat pile on the ledge. "Well, my brothers and Splinter don't know where I go. This way, they think I'm headed top side and they won't go snooping through the sewers to try to find me. And that means they won't accidentally stumble upon my little haven of peace."

Becky smiled as she gazed back up at the waterfall in front of them. She had never seen one in New York City before and the sight amazed her. A tug on her hand let her know that Raphael had moved and that she should follow. She looked down to see him now sitting on the mat on the ledge, smiling up at her. He tugged again, this time pulling her down next to him.

They sat in silence, taking in the sound of the falls and the chirping of the birds. There were no cars or crowds of people. No taxi horns blaring or people screaming. All they heard were the sounds of nature and of each others' breathing. It was calming. It was peaceful. It was surreal. "Why did you bring me here?" Becky ventured, daring to break the silence.

Raphael stared into the falls, refusing to look at her. He sucked in a breath before letting it go again. "I'm not sure," he finally admitted, his eyes never leaving the water. "Maybe I just needed a friend to join me."

A smile spread across her face as he repeated back her own words. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him softly on the cheek. A faint blush appeared through the green of his cheek and she let out a soft laugh. She could only suspect that no one else had ever seen him blush, and she knew that even if she were to tell his brothers, none of them would ever believe her. She vowed to keep the memory to herself deciding it was best for everyone that way.

Back in the silence, she peered into the water, finding herself lost in it's calming effect. She had always loved the water, finding great comfort in trips with her mother to Niagara Falls or even a swimming pool. When she was younger, she would stay in the pool for hours, usually not leaving until her mother or her uncle pulled her out, kicking and screaming in protest. Even regular showers ran long as she found herself lost in thought under the warmth of the cascading water, losing all track of time. Then there were rainy nights. She loved getting caught in a storm, twirling in the rain, her hair and clothes drenched as other pedestrians sought out refuge in stores and restaurants, looking at her as though she'd lost her mind. Sitting beside a half-turtle, half-human, she wondered now if maybe she truly had lost her mind.

"Tell me about yourself," she heard Raphael request, breaking the silence that had surrounded them. Shaking her head to bring herself back to the present, she looked over at him, uncertain she had heard him correctly.

"What do you want to know?" She pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees.

"Everything."

"That could take days," she replied. She turned her head to see him staring intently at her. He shrugged, his eyes never leaving hers. "Why don't you tell me more about you? All you really told me back at April's was that you were a mutated turtle with four brothers and a rat for a father."

Raphael smiled. "And yet, here you are. A lesser girl would have ran for the hills. A smarter girl would have pushed me back out the window and locked the doors."

"Maybe I figure that I've fallen down a rabbit hole and the only way back out to my boring life is to just keep going," she mused. Her shoulders bounced as she silently chuckled to herself.

He laughed, both at her words and the way her face scrunched as she giggled. The sparkle in her eyes did not go unnoticed, and he found himself drawn to them. It both excited and frightened him at the same time. Clearing his throat, he turned away from her, sure if he continued staring into the blue of her eyes he would be forever lost within them. "There ain't much to tell. I started off as a pet with the others. We were being taken somewhere by a dark haired, teenage boy about 20 years ago. He dropped us, we fell down a sewer, landed in some ooze type substance and turned into crime fighting machines, thanks to Master Splinter."

Rocking slowly, Becky let his words sink in, still trying to figure out how she could possibly still be in the real world when everything about the turtles and Splinter screamed fiction. "How old are you?" she asked, not really sure why it was the only question she could think to ask.

Raphael shrugged. "We aren't completely sure, but Donnie estimates that we are all around 23 to 25, Mikey being the youngest. How old are you?"

"I'm 24. So about your age."

He nodded, not sure how else to respond. Words floated around in his brain, but when he spoke, he wanted to punch himself as he asked "So, what about your love life? I mean, you know, that Scott guy and such." The question was definitely inappropriate, but it was something he'd wanted to ask since he'd met her. Though, he was sure it was none of his business, it felt like something he needed to know.

She tensed, her hands balling into fist. "Why are you so interested in my life?" she asked. The words came out harsher than she meant for them to, and she bit her lip.

"I'm a giant turtle. I don't really get out much," he said, staring off into the waterfall again. "I think it's nice to see how the real world lives."

"Oh," she said. She sucked in a breath, not really sure what to say. Knowing she wasn't very good at lying, and even worse at changing the subject, she figured honesty was the only way to go. Short and simple felt right. "Well, with Scott there isn't much to tell. We just grew apart after a few years and went our separate ways. And now. Well, now I find myself thinking about a guy who I thought was a professional mover and just hours ago found out he was actually a mutant turtle."

"But I am a cute mutant," Raphael joked.

Becky's checks flushed, and she turned her head to try to avoid his gaze. "Yes, you are, but I meant Donnie, actually," she admitted, hoping not to hurt his feelings.

She felt his elbow push into her side. He laughed and hugged her shoulders. "I knew who you were talking about. Don't take me too seriously, okay. You want serious and bland, hang out with Leo. You want sarcastic and moody, hang out with me."

Becky smiled again, thankful that she hadn't hurt her new friend. "Sarcastic and moody is much more fun than bland and serious."

"Good," he replied. Looking up at the sun setting in the sky, he let out another sigh. He stood, picking up the trench coat and hat as he did. Putting the disguise back on, he stretched out his arm to help her up. "We should be heading back. We stay out too long, someone's bound to think I killed ya or something."

"Ah, another dead body for your room," she joked. He cocked his head in confusion. "Sorry, inside joke. With Splinter."

Raph gave her a quizzical look but didn't press further. Instead, he picked her up, instructing her to hold on tight to his neck. Then, he bound up the boulder back into the maze of sewer tunnels heading toward the lair.

The smell of freshly baked pizza greeted them as they stepped through the gate of the lair. Putting his clothes back on the coat rack, Raphael avoided the gazes from his brothers and Splinter. Casey patted the couch next to him, offering a seat to his friend. Raph shook his head, grabbed a plate of pizza and stalked off toward his room, waving to Becky as he made his exit.

Becky watched as he carefully balanced the plate with one hand, opened his bedroom door, then quickly closed it again. She heard the faint sound of a lock click then the roar of Metallica music. So lost in watching her friend leave, she jumped when she felt a hand touch her arm. Swinging around she found herself face to face with Donnie, holding out a plate of veggie pizza for her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said shyly. "Um, I saved you some pizza. April told me the veggies were your favorite."

Becky took the plate from him. "Thanks, Donnie. That's really sweet." She kissed him on the cheek, and just like his brother, Donnie blushed. She smiled realizing that she had an awesome power over turtles and for a fleeting moment wondered why those same powers didn't work on human men.


	5. Chapter 5

Hours passed before Becky found herself back in her own apartment. She crawled into her bed, tucking herself under the floral pink comforter bought as a house warming gift from her co-workers. Though she wasn't a fan of pink she had to admit that the comforter brightened up the darkly painted room, adding life to the dark blue walls. As she turned to shut off the bedside lamp, she heard a soft tap against her window. Convincing herself it was just the wind, she shut off of the light, only to turn it back on when the tapping came again, this time to the tune of "shave and a haircut." Wind couldn't possibly do that. Leaping from her bed, she took in a deep breath before yanking back the curtains. A green head wearing a purple mask came into view. She jumped, putting her hand to her heart but managed to keep from screaming.

Opening the window she moved back, allowing Donnie to crawl inside. Quickly, she shut the window again, pulling the curtains closed to conceal her visitor. "What are you doing here?" she asked, still trying to recover from her shock.

Donnie shifted, staring at her forehead and not her eyes. "I'm not really sure," he said softly, running his hand over his smooth head. "I thought about going out for a walk and somehow I ended up here. I'm... I'm not sure why I came here. I... I can go if, um, if you want me to."

Becky let out a laugh and shook her head. "It's okay, Donnie. You just frightened me. I'm not used to getting late night visitors to my window."

Donnie laughed. "Yeah, I guess that was a bit weird, wasn't it. Sorry."

Crawling back into her bed, Becky pulled the covers up to her chin, covering the thin cami she wore as a sleep shirt. Smiling up at Donnie, she patted the empty side of her bed, inviting him to sit down. He looked around the room, then sat carefully along the edge of the bed. Turning to face her, his cheeks reddened again."I'm really not sure what to say. Other than, I am sorry for dropping in on you like this."

They sat in silence for what felt like hours, but was closer to only a few minutes. Becky stared at the giant turtle sitting on her bed, questioning her own sanity. Here she was, in her twenties and she was talking to a living, breathing mutant turtle. And that wasn't even the craziest part. The crazy part was that she found herself attracted to this strange creature. And for some strange reason that she couldn't even begin to explain, he seemed to be interested in her. Now if only either of them could just speak.

Donnie showed his discomfort by playing with a stray string on her bedspread. His fingers traced the outlines of the flowers as he tried to come up with something to say to the woman next to him. He'd never found himself in such a predicament before and wasn't quite sure what to do. Up until now, April had been the only female human he'd had any interactions with, and none of them like this. Though both Mikey and Leo had expressed an interest in her, both in their own way, Donnie had never seen April as anything more than a friend. Though he'd read about love, and it's evil cousin lust, in books, he never once thought that he would find an interest in someone. But three days ago, that all changed. One look into Becky's bright blue eyes and he was afraid his heart was going to beat right out of his chest.

Now, here he was, alone with her in her room, and he didn't have a clue what to do or what to say. He twisted the thread around his finger, racking his brain for something to say. What would the guys in those cheesy novels do? No, he could never do something as forward as sex, even if they had been of the same species. He just wasn't that kind of guy. But, what else would a character have done? He snapped his fingers in an Eureka moment. "Becky," he began, looking straight into her eyes, past her look of confusion. "Would you like to meet here, tomorrow around two. Maybe go see a movie or walk through a museum or something? With me, of course."

Forcing back a laugh as he stumbled through the date request, she smiled at him."I would love to."

A mile wide smile spread across his face. "Really? I mean, um, that sounds great. I'll see you here. Tomorrow. At two." He stood up, his face turning red again. Becky laughed, a twinkle in her eyes. "Well, um. Good night. I'll go out the front door and make sure it locks behind me. I'll see you tomorrow. At two."

"Okay, Donnie. Until tomorrow. At two," she giggled.

Donnie waved a quick goodbye, then ran for the door. Once he was safely in the hall, he checked the door to ensure that it had locked behind him. Then, he banged the back of his head against the wall. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he scolded himself. He hated that he'd sounded like a blubbering fool. Hopefully she would forgive his temporary brain freeze and everything would be better in the morning. Hopefully. He checked the door one last time, then headed down the stairs of the building to head for home. With a skip in his step, he prepared himself for the best day of his life.

"This is the worst day of my life!" Mikey's cry echoed throughout the lair, breaking the afternoon silence. Accustomed to their brother's frequent dramatic out bursts, the rest of the turtles ignored him, continuing about their activities, refusing to acknowledge him.

Donatello inspected himself in the full length mirror of the Dojo. The hat and trench coat paired with the dark sunglasses really didn't seem like a very good disguise for an art museum. What had he been thinking when he'd come up with the idea? Of course someone with his intellect would know that an art museum would require a much more clever disguise than this, yet the thought had escaped him while he made a complete ass out of himself trying to ask Becky out. "Pretty girl make Donnie stupid," he said to his reflection.

Frowning at himself, he jumped when Mikey's reflection joined his in the mirror. "Yo, Bro. Didn't you hear me? Worst day of my life?"

Donnie knocked the hat off of his own head. "Yes, I heard you. What seems to be the dilemma de jour little brother?"

Mikey held out his hands, shoving a blackened pizza towards Donnie. "It's ruined!" His dramatic flair bounced off the walls, echoing through the room.

Donatello briefly inspected the burnt mess. "Well, just call it pizza a la carbon," he suggested. Mikey looked at him with his infamous deer in the headlights look. Donnie shook his head. "Why don't you just make another one?"

Mikey looked down at the charbroiled disaster he was holding. "This was the last of the cheese and pepperoni."

"You know," Donnie began, using the matter of fact voice that Mikey usually tuned out. "The original pizzas were made from dough, sauce and a sardine in the middle. You could always recreate that."

Mikey looked at him blankly. Giving up on receiving any sympathy out of his brother, Mikey walked backwards out of the Dojo, hollering for Leonardo. Donnie shook his head again. Of all of his brothers, Michelangelo was the one he worried most about as they aged. Poor Mikey seemed to be stuck in a Peter Pan phase where even though he was getting older, he sure wasn't getting any more mature.

With a laugh in his brother's direction, Raphael sauntered into the Dojo, walking past Donnie and falling onto the weight bench. Taking in his brother's appearance he laughed again, shaking his head. "I don't know why you're even bothering. She's not really suited for you," he remarked. "She's strong and fierce. I think that makes her more my type."

Donnie walked over to his brother, spotting him as he lifted the weight bar out away from his chest. "She likes theater, classical music, science and art. Oh, and her IQ is above 10. I do believe that makes her my type."

Raph scoffed. "She's witty, sarcastic and stubborn. I think you may be too passive to handle a woman like that. Especially since you've never dated anyone in your life."

"And you have?"

"Well, no. But I don't need practice to be perfect."

"Perfect? Ha!" Donnie retorted. "You're hot headed and mean spirited. She's a delicate flower that you would stomp on and destroy. She needs someone soothing and gentle to help bring her back to life after a wilting break up."

Raphael set the weights back on the bench and sat up, his face contorted with confusion. "Do you even know what you just said?"

Donnie reviewed the statement in his head trying to analyze it, but decided it was mostly gibberish. "Oh Raph, what am I doing? I don't know the first thing about dating someone! She just... something about her... funny feelings...unicorn sparkles. Oh, what was I thinking!"

Raph stood up, placing a brotherly hand upon Donnie's shoulder. "Dude, it's gonna be okay. Don't work yourself up."

Donnie's knees buckled, causing him to fall onto the bench. Raphael crouched down beside him, encouraging him to keep breathing. Feeling faint, Donnie placed his head between his knees to keep from passing out. Of all of his brothers, he was by far the least adventurous and outgoing. He tended to keep to himself and he liked it that way. He had no idea what had come over him the past few days. Before meeting Becky, he had never once thought of himself as the type to have a crush or fall in love. And never in his wildest dreams had he thought he'd have an actual date with anyone. Yet here he was, fretting over what to wear as he prepared to go out on his first date. And being the maiden voyager of his brothers to attempt dating, he had no one he could turn to for advice. Usually, when it came to advice, he would go to Leo, the oldest of the brothers for a long talk. But, on this particular subject, he felt it was best to avoid talking to his older brother.

Leonardo spent many family meetings echoing Splinter's warnings about trying to blend in with the world around them, agreeing that it was best to stay hidden in the darkness of the sewer system and not trying to make New York City streets their home. He figured Leo wasn't very happy with his choice to date a human woman, and he was sure Leo questioned his sanity just as much as Donnie found himself questioning his own.

Yet, here was Raphael, offering his ear and even in his sarcasm, Raph wasn't really trying to talk him out of dating Becky. In fact, Donnie thought that some of the sarcasm was masking a type of jealousy and that maybe, just maybe Raph himself had wanted a chance to date the new girl in their lives. The idea amused him, enough so to help ease his worry. Slowly lifting his head, he looked over at his brother. "I'm sure I'm going to regret this, but... Do you have any dating advice?"

Raphael laughed, standing from his crouching position. "Hold her hand, ask her lots of questions to show that you are interested in her and let her set the pace." Donnie's shock registered across his face at his brother's straight forward answer. Never before had he heard Raphael be so serious about anything. "Oh," Raph added, helping his brother to his feet, a sly smile appearing on his face "Keep your tongue in your mouth on the first kiss. You don't want to scare her off too soon."

"Thanks, Raph." Donnie should have known better than to think that his brother could stay serious for too long, but he had offered some really good ideas. Deciding to ignore the last part of his speech, Donnie hugged his brother. "I appreciate the help."

Raph patted him on the back. "Hey, what are brothers for? Now, you better get up there. You don't want the poor girl thinking you stood her up."

Donnie placed the hat he'd forgotten he'd been holding back on to his head, waved a quick good bye to Raphael and headed surface side. Raphael watched him go, his expression somewhere between a smile and a frown. "Good luck, Bro," he said, soft enough that he knew no one would be able to hear him. Heading over to the punching bag, he decided to let out his aggression and jealousy in a more productive work out.


	6. Chapter 6

The knock on the door was so quiet, she wasn't even sure she'd heard it. Deciding it was better to open the door to thin air instead of keeping someone waiting, Becky pulled the door back, revealing the silhouette of Donatello wearing a trench coat that covered any trace of his being a turtle. Offering a small wave, he smiled shyly at her, the butterflies flapping wildly in his stomach. Coughing, he tried to remind himself that it was just a date. Two people getting to know each other a little better. No biggie.

Except, one of them wasn't really a person. The thought turned his smile into a frown.

Watching his expression fall, she smiled up at him, taking note of the nervous look upon his face. Slipping her hand into his gloved one, she stepped out of her apartment and pulled him toward the stairs at the end of the hall. "Come on, brighten up. This is going to be a great day."

Donnie pulled her back, keeping her from going any further. His eyes fell nervously to the carpet as he prepared his words carefully to deliver the bad news. "Yeah, about that," Donnie began."I was thinking that maybe I wasn't really dressed for a stroll through the art museum. This disguise might just stick out more than a ninja turtle would." He motioned toward his outfit and placed the sunglasses back upon his face. Becky took in the sight of him and laughed in her agreement. "How about a stroll around Central Park? I think I could fit in better there."

Becky smiled, pulling him back toward her apartment. "Well, if we are going to go to the park, I think we need to bring one more thing with us." She fumbled in her purse as she searched for her keys. Fishing them out she smiled softly before putting the key into the lock and opening the door. "Do you like sandwiches, or are you on a strictly pizza diet?"

Donnie laughed. "No, most of us will eat other things including sandwiches and sushi. Mikey is the one with the pizza habit. Some day I may have to develop a twelve step program for him."

Becky laughed again. She tossed her purse onto the table and walked into the kitchen. Pulling out the bread and peanut butter, she quickly set to work making sandwiches for a picnic lunch. Noticing the silence from her guest, she looked up to see Donnie flipping through a photo album on her coffee table. Picking up the album, he carefully walked it over to the counter where she stood. "Who are all of these people?" he asked, allowing his never ending curiosity to get the better of him.

She tilted her head to get a better view of which photos he was referring to. As she followed his finger, a frown formed upon her face. "That's a picture from the Christmas before last. The guy next to me is my ex, Scott and he girls behind us are his sisters. We were at his family's house for the holiday."

"Oh," Donnie said. He instantly regretted asking, but he'd had no idea the happy guy standing next to an even happier Becky had been her boyfriend. How could a guy that looked that incredibly happy end up leaving such a wonderful girl? The idea perplexed him and forced itself around in his overly logical brain. If the two were that happy of a couple that he would invite her to his house for a special holiday, it would seem unlikely that things would turn bad enough for him to leave shortly after. But, he had left, so he couldn't have possibly been as happy as he appeared in the photo, could he?

Remembering Raphael's advice, Donnie decided it was best to ask questions instead of trying to come up with a plausible explanation on his own. "What happened between the two of you? You seem so happy in this photograph."

"Well," Becky began, slapping two slices of bread together. "That's the problem with photographs. They don't give you the full story. And more often than not, they are staged and phony moments in time, captured at just the right instance that anyone looking at it later on could easily perceive that the couple standing in front of the beautifully trimmed Christmas tree were in fact very much in love. But, for those in the photo, they would know a much different story."

Becky crouched down behind the counter, shuffling around a few containers as she searched for something. Sucking in a few deep breaths, she tried to control her emotions as the memories of that trip came rushing back to her. The fights, the tears, the truth. So many things she didn't really want to think about, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't keep suppressing her memories. It wasn't healthy.

Standing up once again, a metal picnic basket in her hand, she offered a toothy grin in Donnie's direction. "The truth is, Scott and I had been having problems for awhile. And what that photo doesn't tell you is that I hadn't even wanted to join him at his parent's house for the holidays. I would have been just fine spending Christmas alone instead of trying to fake being part of a happy little couple. We spent most of that vacation hiding in the car fighting so that his family wouldn't know. Worst week of my life."

Donnie closed the photo album, pushing it down the counter away from them. "I'm so sorry, Becky. I didn't mean to upset you."

Becky placed her hand on top of his. "It's okay, Donnie. You didn't know. Besides, it's in the past. It's part of my past. I'm a much stronger person for it, and I have this great apartment and I have the chance to become friends with four really great guys. I think I got the better deal out of the break up."

The sincerity in her voice was so sweet that he immediately brightened up. She seemed genuinely okay about the break up, and all of the guilt he felt for bringing up the past quickly melted. He watched in amusement as she stuffed the sandwiches and a veggie tray into the picnic basket, dancing around as she moved. Laughing, he smiled at her, pleased when she smiled back. Waiting for her to turn around to make her way to the fridge for two reusable bottles of water, he picked the troublesome photo album back up, taking it back to it's place on the coffee table. As he turned to return to the kitchen, the window quickly caught his eye.

Not sure if he had really seen what his brain told him he had, he walked closer to the window to peer outside. Sure enough, his eyes had not deceived him. "Um, Becky. Di-hydrogen monoxide falls from the sky," he announced. "I guess this puts a damper on our picnic plans. No pun intended."

"No problem," she said. Carrying the picnic basket into the living room, she set it on the coffee table, covering the photo album. With little force, she pushed the table up against the couch, opening up a large space on the floor. Then, she grabbed the blanket draped across the couch and placed it onto the floor. Picking the picnic basket back up, she placed it carefully in the middle of the floor before kicking off her shoes and plopping down on the blanket. "We can have an indoor picnic instead. Go on, take off that silly disguise. There's no reason to hide who you really are here."

Donnie didn't need to be told twice. He quickly shrugged out of the trench coat, flinging it onto the couch. The hat and sunglasses quickly followed. Sitting across from her on the blanket, he took the plate she handed him with a sandwich and veggies. Picking up a carrot stick, he placed it into his mouth and crunched thoughtfully. He wanted to find out more about her, but his last question had backfired so badly that he was afraid of asking the wrong thing again. He racked his brain, weighing carefully each question that came to mind trying to figure out the probability of bringing up another unpleasant memory.

"So, tell me about yourself," Becky said, interrupting his thoughts. She took a bite out of her sandwich, her eyes never leaving his face as she waited for his response.

He breathed a quick sigh of relief, thankful that she had broken the silence. "Well, I'm a computer geek who loves to know how things work. I tend to spend most of my time taking things apart, figuring out what every little circuit and wire does, then putting it back together, usually making it more efficient than it was before." He bit in to his own sandwich, chewing quickly. "I put together our entire electrical grid down in the lair, and I did my best to draw as little power as possible from the New York City power supply to keep anyone from noticing a huge spike and cause an investigation. I'm sure you realize that most people aren't as forward thinking as yourself, April and Casey. Most people would see four grown humanoid turtles wielding weaponry and think we were terrorists or something."

"Well most people suck," Becky said. "They don't bother getting to know someone before making a snap judgment. It's sad." She paused, trying to read Donnie's expression. Afraid that her opinionated tone may have scared him off a little, she quickly attempted to change the subject. "So, ninja huh?"

Donnie smiled. "Yeah, crime fighting machines." He took another bite of his sandwich, chewed slowly and swallowed before continuing. "Actually, we weren't originally going to be crime fighters. After our mutations happened, things were a little crazy, as I'm sure one might suspect. Master Splinter was originally a human ninja master, trained in martial arts. He thought that the discipline of ninjutsu would be good for four young turtles, so he set out to teach us. It wasn't until years later when we realized that New York really needed our help against The Shredder that we knew our true purpose in this world."

"The Shredder?" Becky interrupted, the name foreign to her. "Who or what is that?"

Donnie laughed, finding both humor and comfort in learning that she had never heard of the villain. "Well, for lack of a better reference, he's kind of like our arch nemesis. The Joker to our Batman, Venom to our Spiderman, and Professor Moriarty to their Sherlock Holmes."

She raised an eyebrow in his direction."Their Sherlock Holmes?"

Donnie grinned. "Oh, but of course. I am by far the best Doctor Watson in our group. Let's face it, he solved most of the clues before Holmes did. In fact, most people believe that Holmes and Watson were one in the same, kind of like a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde persona."

"Interesting theory. So, if you weren't a crime fighting hero, would you be a literature teacher?"

Donnie contemplated the question for a brief moment. "No, I'd probably be an engineer or some great inventor. I have a few secret inventions going on right now, actually. Next time you're down in the liar, I'll show you."

"Sounds like fun." She finished the last bite of her sandwich, taking a carrot into her mouth.

"So, what about you? I mean, I know about Scott and your dream to be a writer. But what else is there to Becky, um. Yeah, I don't even know your last name."

"It's Spiegel. Rebecca Spiegel." She smiled again. "I think it's a great writer's name."

He nodded. "So Ms. Spiegel. What do you like to do for fun?" Donnie sat back, finally feeling at ease with the girl sitting across from him.

Becky thought for a moment, chewing absently on the carrot stick in between her fingers. It had been so long since she'd had fun that she couldn't really remember what she did. Scott had been a huge sports fan, and she'd watched football and basketball with him, but she'd never really enjoyed that. Prior to Scott were a slew of other guys, all of which had expected her to share their interests, but had never asked her about her own. Surely there was something about her, other than writing, that made her, well, her. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "But I intend to find out."

Donnie stared at her, nodding. "I know exactly how you feel. I've spent my entire life being part of the same team as my brothers that I often forget that I am an individual. I mean, yeah I have the brains of the team, but I still sometimes wonder who I really truly am." He reached across the blanket, placing his hand over hers. "It's kinda nice, in a weird way, to know that I'm not the only one who feels so lost."

Becky smiled as she looked at his hand over hers, pink appearing in her cheeks. "So, um, tell me more about your family."

Donnie leaned back again, propping himself up against the coffee table. "Well, there's Leonardo. He's the eldest of the four of us. He has a superiority complex and sees himself as the leader of our little group. If we were in school, he would definitely be the brown nosing teacher's pet. But, he is well-meaning and frankly every group needs some form of leadership. There are times that, well, he really does need to lighten up a bit."

Becky laughed, thinking back to her few interactions with the turtle when she'd come to that exact same conclusion. Speaking of lightening up, the youngest turtle came to mind. "What about Mikey?"

"Ah, Michelangelo. He's very much a kid at heart and very much the opposite of Leonardo. Mikey could use some help in taking the world a little more seriously, but then again, it is nice to have some comedic relief in our lives. Besides, he does make a great pizza. Even better than Casey's. But don't ever tell Casey I said that."

Becky crossed her heart with her finger. "Your secret is safe with me," she said, meaning more than just the pizza.

Another smile spread across Donnie's face and he tried to remember when he had smiled so much in his life. It felt great. Finding himself become a little more brave, he squeezed her hand, pulling it closer to him. He smiled as he realized how quickly he felt so comfortable and happy with this girl. Not something he expected to feel with someone he knew for such a short amount of time. His heart beat faster in his chest and he hoped that she couldn't hear the pounding in his chest.

Squeezing his hand back, she let her eyes wander from the turtle's face. "So, what's the story with Raphael? Is he really the badass he appears to be?"

Donnie let out a guttural laugh. "Well, he has a red hot temper that is easily set off by Leo. Those two go at it like a true set of brothers. I'm not sure where all of Raph's rage comes from, but he is good at letting it loose on Leo." Donnie's mind played back a few short hours ago and he smiled. "But all in all, Raph's a pretty great guy. I'm sure you already know that though, since you not only befriended him, you trusted him enough to lead you through the sewers to our home."

Nodding, Becky slid closer to him, keeping her hand secured in his. "Last one. What's Splinter really like?"

"Splinter is a great father and mentor. He's cautious, and he wants all of us to be safe. But, at the same time, he wants all of us to be happy. I couldn't imagine being where I am today without him."

"Spoken like a true son." Becky squeezed his hand again.

Donnie smiled at her again. Then, something took over in his brain. With a shaky grip, he slowly lifted her hand to his mouth, placing a soft kiss upon her knuckles. Rose red stained both of their cheeks and they quickly turned away from one another. "Um, I should probably get going. I had a really great time though." He didn't really want to leave, but he was afraid if he stayed any longer, he'd end up doing something stupid. He wasn't quite ready for stupid.

"Um yeah, me too. Time went by so fast just talking." She giggled from nerves, not sure if she sounded as dumb as she felt.

"So, when do I get to see you again?" Donnie stood up, hoping he wasn't being too forward. Reaching down for her other hand, Donnie pulled her up to her feet, a little harder than he meant to. She crashed into the hardness of his chest, hugging into him. "Oops, sorry!" he apologized. He looked down into her beautiful blue eyes and gently pushed the hair off of her face.

They stood, frozen in a gaze, unable to move, unable to breathe. Their eyes locked, their fingers threaded together. Donnie started to lean down towards her, but thought better of it, not sure he or she was quite ready to go so far as to cross the lines of friendship.

Clearing his throat, he blinked and looked away for a moment, breaking the spell that had fallen upon them. "So, um. What are you doing Friday night?"

Straightening her stance, Becky winked at him. "Walking through Central Park with you, of course."

Donnie smiled. "I'll meet you downstairs at six?"

"I'll be there." She started to lean up to kiss his cheek, but he turned to leave before she could connect. Grabbing his hat and coat, he waved a quick goodbye before exiting to the hall. She fought off the overwhelming desire to chase after him.

As the door closed behind him, she leaned against the wall, drunk with craziness. This was by far the best first date she had ever been on, and it didn't seem at all weird to her that it was in fact with a turtle. The only thing that would have made it even better was if he had kissed her. She'd thought she'd read the signs right, that he had wanted to, but when she'd tried, he turned away. Of course, it was probably weird for him, too.

Deciding not to dwell on what could have been, she instead decided to relish in what was. She danced around happily, cleaning up the remnants of their picnic, her heart skipping a beat as she thought of him. This was the start of something new and exciting. She just knew it.


	7. Chapter 7

The lair was unusually quiet upon Donnie's return. Looking around the living room, he couldn't find a single one of his brothers. Sliding onto the couch, he closed his eyes, thinking back to his time with Becky. Rebecca Faye Spiegel. Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl with the most beautiful blue eyes in the world. He had found himself more than once getting lost in those eyes, like a ship lost at sea on the deep blue ocean in the Caribbean never wishing to be rescued.

"So how was the date?" Mikey's voice asked, piercing through the quiet. Donnie opened his eyes to see Mikey's face less than an inch from his own. "Did you kiss her?"

Donnie shot him a look but refused to answer his brother. "That's none of our business," Raph's voice came from behind them. Standing next to the couch, he handed Donnie a glass of water. "So did you have a good time?"

Donnie pushed Mikey away from him and onto the couch. "Yes, we had a wonderful time. We ended up having a picnic in her living room and just talked. I must admit it was quite enjoyable having an intelligent conversation with someone other than Master Splinter."

"Ouch," Raph said, clutching his heart. "That was just mean dear brother." Raphael grabbed a coat and hat from the rack. "I'm headed out for a little fresh air. Glad you had a good time though."

Donnie and Mikey waved their goodbye as Raph left the lair. Donnie turned back to Mikey who was sitting with his elbows on his knees, his chin propped in his hands. "So tell me more about this date!"

Shaking his head, Donnie stood up to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen."Oh Mikey. What am I going to do with you?" Donnie took a big gulp of water, before continuing the play by play of his date with Becky, omitting some facts that he didn't feel ready to share with anyone, least of all his baby brother.

A light tapping came from Becky's window. Smiling, she ran to the window, pulled back the curtains and jumped back in surprise when she found the smiling face of Raphael greeting her. Waving hello, she quickly unlatched the lock and let him in. "Don't any of you guys ever use the door?" she asked.

Raph stepped into the room. "Well, we do, but it's much more fun and ninja like to come through the window." He looked around the room and let out a whistle. "Nice room, Babe. I really like what you've done with the place."

Shaking her head at the turtle, Becky glanced around the room. In the short time she'd lived here, she had put up a few floral sconces on the wall and strategically placed flameless candles around the room to add some ambiance. It had taken some time, but the room felt like hers and it felt great. Looking back at Raph, she shook her head as he flopped down upon her bed in the same spot Donnie had sat the night before. Crawling into bed beside him, she rolled to her side, propping herself up with one hand.

He slid closer to her, ignoring her as she rolled her eyes, unable to keep the smile from forming on her face as she looked back at him. "So, what brings you here tonight? No bad guys to chase after? Or, maybe you saw one up on the roof and decided to try to warn me?"

Raph let out a hearty laugh. "Nope, no bad guys on the roof. Trust me, I checked. I just wanted to see how your date with Donnie went. You know, it was the first date any of us have ever been on so of course we're a little curious."

"Ah, well that explains it," she said, mock concern in her voice. "I wondered why he brought me a can of spray paint and danced around like a chicken. I just figured it was some weird mating dance of the turtle or something."

Raphael picked up a pillow and smacked her in the face with it. "Smart ass!" he proclaimed.

Becky laughed and threw the pillow back at him. Raph caught it, placed it behind his head and slid down beside her. "So, what really happened?" he asked.

A smile creased her face as she thought back to just a few hours ago. Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she realized that her date with Donatello truly was a curious new adventure for all of them and it was sweet to see Raphael concerned about his brother. Maybe he wasn't the big badass he thought he was after all. "Well, we decided to cancel our plans for the museum and changed them to a picnic in the park. But, alas, Mother Nature got her period or something and decided to pour down rain. So, we had a picnic in the apartment instead." She smiled. "It wasn't completely perfect though. He asked me about some photos that just happened to have my ex in them."

Raphael cringed, his hand slamming into his own forehead. "Please excuse his rookie mistake."

"Oh, I did. And we ended up talking about the three of you. But I of course promised him I would never tell you all of the nasty, yet probably true things he said about you."

Twisting his body, he turned his body so he was facing her straight on. Propping his head in his hands, he stared at her. "Really? Like what?"

Becky thought for a moment before releasing a wicked grin. "Well. He told me you were born with a fifth foot and Splinter really didn't want you but kept you anyway because no one else would ever want such a hideously ugly creature in their home."

"Oh my dear sweet brother. He remembered it wrong. It was he who had been born the five legged freak."

Becky laughed again. She loved how happy she was around her new friends, how every day since she'd met them she'd laughed and smiled more than she had in years. Who would have known that befriending mutants would be the best thing to have ever happened to her? Not her! "No, but really. He does genuinely care about each and every one of you. Like any good brother would."

Raph leaned back against the pillow turning away from Becky to face the ceiling. "He really is a good brother. They all are, each in his own special way." The room fell silent as they both contemplated the importance of family in their lives. Raph felt very lucky to have such a wonderful family to go home to every night, even if he did find himself constantly at Leo's throat. Something about having a place to go where no matter what he would always be accepted and loved. It was a comforting thought that he often overlooked and would never admit out loud.

Turning back on to his side, he noticed the solemn look upon Becky's face. He remembered that she had lost both of her parents in her short lifetime and he had never heard any mention of siblings. Could it be that this sweet girl was all alone in the world? He realized again how lucky he was to have his brothers. Without them, he would have self destructed long ago and would have never had the chance to meet anyone as wonderful as the girl beside him. Someone that his geeky brother had fallen so hard for. "So, did you kiss him?" he asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

He was answered with a faint laugh that had a hint of a longing sigh attached. "No. No kiss tonight," she reported. _Though not from lack of trying_, she thought to herself.

Raphael scooted closer to her, keeping his eyes locked onto hers. "Good," he whispered, leaning into her. "Then I get to be your first." Before she could offer any form of protest, his eyes closed and his mouth softly brushed against hers. She hadn't been sure what to expect but assumed it would be a cold, slimy kiss. But, she soon realized that his mouth was warm just like any other man she had ever kissed and far from slimy. His fingers combed through her hair, his mouth once again lightly against her lips. She found herself lost in the kiss, confused by his warmth and caught off guard by the fact that it was Raphael, and not Donatello, that she found herself in a sweet embrace with, causing a slight ping of guilt to cascade over her.

Then, a cool breeze filled the room. She opened her eyes to see that she was alone once more. The curtains blew softly in the wind and she hurried to shut the window and re-latch the lock. She looked out into the night seeing no trace of her late night visitor. Her fingers moved across her lips as she tried to determine if the kiss had been real or if she had only imagined it. Knowing that she would not learn the answers tonight, she tucked herself back into bed and shut off the bedside light.

Outside her window, Raphael sat on the fire escape and watched as she drifted off to sleep. He wasn't sure what it was that had lured him to her apartment. He couldn't figure out why he decided to climb inside her bed and he was at a loss at figuring out just what had possessed him to kiss her. Maybe it was her sarcastic wit and the way she was able to keep up with him in a joke. Or maybe it was the smell of her hair and the twinkle in her eyes. No matter the reason, he had in fact kissed her and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he wanted to do it again. He also knew that he could never take a girl that his brother obviously cared for. Especially when she so obviously cared for that same brother in return. With one final look at the sleeping girl, he forced himself to forget about crawling into bed next to her and turned toward the ladder of the fire escape.

Making his way down, he decided to stop by and grab Casey for a night of patrolling the streets, hoping to find a thug or two to punch. Physical combat was always the prefect distraction.


	8. Chapter 8

The day passed slowly as Becky answered phones, filed contracts and set up auditions for the latest play. As she worked, she found her mind wandering to her secret life of mutants and mayhem. Though most of her memories were of the conversations she shared with Donatello, there were parts of her mind that kept flashing back to her night time encounter with Raphael. She'd never been one to partake in a love triangle, especially when it came to brothers. Mutant ninja crime fighting brothers at that. Then again, at no point was the word love ever uttered and she herself wasn't even sure she was ready to feel anything for any man or turtle right now.

She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain. No, she decided, for right now she was strictly looking for fun and friendship. And maybe, just maybe a giant turtle would be perfect for that. Even now, obviously not in her right mind, she knew she could never fall in love with a turtle. Could she? Or, better question, could he fall in love with a human?

The many questions of love, turtles and sanity plagued her mind until the clocked ticked slowly to five-thirty and she was out the door running all of the way to her apartment. As she rounded the corner of her street, she was surprised to see the trench coat clad Donatello already waiting for her on the steps. Sitting on the top step, his gaze locked intently on something near his boot covered foot. Unable to stop the smile on her face, she slowed her pace as not to look over-eager to see him. As she reached the first step, his head jerked up as he smiled down at her.

"You're early," she said, the smile still plastered on her face. "I need to run upstairs and change before we go."

Donnie looked her over and let out a weak whistle, the best he could do. "You look great to me."

She blushed, releasing a shy giggle. "I meant my shoes. I'm not going walking through the park in heels."

This time, his cheeks turned rose red. "Oh, sorry."

With a laugh, Becky ran up the stairs, turning back when she hit the door. "I'll be back in two minutes. Promise."

She vanished behind the door, leaving Donatello alone once more with his thoughts and the warm breeze. He took in a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. For the first time in his life, he wasn't sure what was going on in his head. There were plenty of times where he had been alone with April and had felt just fine. Two friends, talking over coffee or hot chocolate and never once blushing. There was no reason to be nervous and jumpy around Becky. She was just another human female friend.

Only, she wasn't _just_ another human friend, not to him anyway. She was something special and she had a strange effect on him. Just being near her raised his blood pressure and caused his brain to become fuzzy. It was strange and discombobulating, but far from terrible. It was new and different. And scary.

Being the ever learning scientist, he had done a little bit of research and found that his symptoms were in no way indicative of some type of heart attack, brain tumor or other disease. It was something far more serious-it was a crush and possibly something that might one day develop into something more. Donnie shook his head, surprised by the thought running through his head. Something more was just plain crazy. They were different people, one of them not a person at all. He was just setting himself up for heart break if he continued to think this way. He sucked in another deep breath, reminding himself that this could never be anything more than friendship.

Now, if only he could truly believe his own reminder.

The squeaking door caught his attention, snapping him up to his feet. Quickly turning around, he took in the sight of her again and instantly his heart beat faster in his chest proving that this wasn't going to be the platonic relationship he expected. At least, not from his side.

"Ready?" Becky asked, breezing past him on the stairs.

He sucked in another breath catching the scent of lilacs. Smiling at her, he took her arm in his, doing his best to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. "Let's go."

Small talk filled their walk to the park. She told him a little about her day at work, omitting the parts where she spent her time thinking about him and his brothers. She explained to him the way call backs worked and talked a bit about the upcoming performances at the little theater. They were both so engrossed in the conversation that it wasn't until they found themselves in the center of Central Park that they noticed the lack of people milling about around them.

Using the stillness to his advantage, Donnie stopped in the middle of the path, pulling Becky towards him. A shy smile crossed his face as his free hand slid across her check. She smiled up at him, noticing the sudden tempo change of her own heartbeat. Taking her smile as a sign to keep going, he lowered his head and softly kissed her lips, relief flooding over him as he realized she was kissing him back. The word platonic immediately left his vocabulary as he found himself lost in the warmth and softness of her mouth. His head filled with visions of fireworks as he placed his hand against the back of her neck, holding her to him. In that moment, he knew his entire world would never be the same.

Suddenly, something made the image in his head turn to black. Pulling away from the kiss, Donnie's eyes flew open and his ears perked up. In one moment he was raising a finger to his mouth to keep Becky quiet. In the next moment, he reached inside his trench coat, pulling out his bo staff from it's holder. Becky jumped, startled by the sudden change in the atmosphere and the expression on his face .

"Donnie," she said, her whisper quivering. "What's going on?"

Looking around, Donnie pulled her closer towards him with one arm as his opposite hand held tight to his weapon. "I'm not sure," he whispered back. "But something doesn't feel right."

Shaking slightly, Becky looked around the park, suddenly aware that they were alone, something that never happened in the warmth of the summer afternoon in Central Park. Attempting to hear anything, she closed her eyes, hoping that she would be able to pick up something. "Shit!" she heard Donnie mutter under his breath. That was definitely NOT what she wanted to hear.

In a whirlwind of movements, she felt Donnie reach for her hand only to feel his finger tips as he missed. With her eyes now squeezed tightly shut, she was very much aware of another pair of arms grabbing her from behind, a hand pressed firmly against her mouth, suppressing her scream. Forcing her eyes open, she was only able to make out the vague shape of Donatello in the midst of four or five black pajama clad ninja soldiers ganging up on him. Struggling against her captor, she tried to break free of his grasp, but she was much too weak to get away.

Trying to keep her calm, she watched as Donnie raised his bow, knocking out one of the assailants. Grabbing a second soldier by the wrist, he quickly pulled him over his back and into two other ninjas in front of him. With a brutal kick to the gut he took care of the final ninja standing beside him before running over by Becky. As the turtle approached, she felt the arms around her loosen and she yelped in pain as her hair pulled against the attacker's arm as he released her. Looking over his shoulder at the soon to recover ninja soldiers, Donnie picked Becky up with one arm and ran off toward the park entrance.

Once they reached the entrance, he placed his bo staff back into it's holder, his breath coming out in a heavy pant. "You ready to run?" he asked, grabbing her hand. She could do no more than nod and they were off again. Rounding a corner, Donatello pulled her arm and guided her into an abandoned building.

Pushing a chair against the door to hold it into place, he glanced out one of the dust covered windows to see if they had been followed. Becky fell to the dingy floor, her breath slowly returning to normal. Satisfied that no one had followed them, Donnie slid down beside her.

"Who were those guys?" Becky asked. She stared into the darkness of the room, not turning to face Donatello as the world spun around her.

Donnie put an arm around her, pulling her against him. Still refusing to meet his gaze, she leaned her head against his chest, trying to stop the spinning. Attempting to calm her nerves, he slowly combed his fingers through her hair as he kissed the top of her head. Keeping his voice low and soothing, he did his best to explain."Those were foot ninjas. They work for the Shredder and pretty much do his biding. Unfortunately, his biding is to get rid of us."

"Why?"

Donnie let out an exaggerated laugh. "We're good guys, remember. All good guys need to have a villain to catch. And every villain needs a good guy to try to kill. But don't you worry," Donnie said, planting a soft kiss upon her forehead. "The good guys almost always win."

Becky sighed. "Did you have to say almost?"

Donnie laughed again, this time more genuinely. Becky turned, burying her face into the crook of his arm. He held her against him happy that she wasn't looking at his face. He wasn't sure what the foot or Shredder were up to, but he knew that things were going to be much worse now. They had seen Becky and knew she was an ally of theirs. April was safe-she had Casey to protect her, but Becky lived alone. What if they went after her? Guilt washed over him as he realized that if anything ever happened to her, it would be his fault. Hugging her tighter, he made a silent vow to keep her safe, no matter what.

"Life is always going to be an adventure with you guys around, isn't it?" she asked.

Donnie patted her back. "I'm afraid so." Allowing his words to sink in, Becky hugged him secretly wondering just what in the hell she had managed to get herself into.


	9. Chapter 9

Mikey tossed pizza dough into the air, trying his best to keep from hitting the ceiling. Beside him, Casey was cutting pepperoni sticks into smaller sizes with one of Leonardo's freshly cleaned katanas. The kitchen was it's usual mess of pizza sauce jars, fresh dough crusts and dirty pans overflowing the sink.

Raphael moseyed into the kitchen, shaking his head at the mess. "You guys need to open a pizza place. That way the mess could be there and not here." Pulling the fridge door open, he was engulfed in an avalanche of shredded cheese and bell peppers. Pushing the ingredients back onto a shelf, he grabbed a bottle of water and slammed the door shut before anything else could fall on him.

Mikey's face grew bright as he contemplated Raphael's words. Completely losing track of what he was doing, the pizza dough he'd tossed into the air landed right on his head, causing a fit of laughter to escape from Casey's mouth. Ignoring the doughy mess, Mikey turned toward his friend. "Raph has a good idea."

"All of my ideas are good," Raph explained, walking out of the room.

Ignoring his brother, Mikey removed the dough from his eyes and walked over to Casey. "Dude, we should start our own pizza place. It can have some kind of under the sea theme where the head chef would be a turtle."

"I like it. Well, except the part of me in a turtle costume."

Mike slung his arm around Casey. "No dude, I'm the head chef. No costume needed."

Casey opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by the sound of Donnie pushing Becky into the lair. The commotion was so loud, that it drew the entire company's attention. Leo jumped up from the couch, rushing over to the gateway. Raphael turned back around, and once noticing the horrified expression on Becky's face ran over to her, pulling her towards him."Becky? Are you okay?" he asked, his voice loud with concern. She shook her head as he pulled her closer to him, tears breaking loose from her eyes.

Leo reached out to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Looking up at his brother, his face showed great concern, something the others weren't use to seeing on the usually stoic brother. "Donnie, what happened?"

Grabbing her arm, Donnie pulled Becky back toward him, leaving Raph to hug air. "The foot happened."

"Is she okay?" Mikey asked, worry covering his face.

"One of them grabbed her, but they didn't hurt her. As soon as I was able to get the guys off of me, I was able to scare off the one that had her and we got the hell out of there. She's pretty shaken up though."

Splinter, a warm compress in hand, walked over to the frightened girl. Grabbing her with a fatherly touch, he took her by the arm and led her to the couch, the turtles and Casey right behind them. Without a word, he motioned for her to lay onto the couch and she immediately complied. As she leaned against the pillow, he placed the compress upon her head, running his bony fingers along her cheek. "Rest my child. You'll feel better soon."

Still unable to form a coherent thought, Becky slowly nodded. Motioning to the boys, Splinter walked off toward the Dojo, Mikey, Leo and Donnie behind him. Casey pulled out his cell phone to call April to let her know what had happened and to get her down to the lair. Raphael stayed behind, his face sullen as he looked over the terrified girl on the couch. Ignoring the irritated call of Master Splinter, Raph crouched beside her, gently taking her hand into his.

Opening her eyes, Becky offered him a weak smile. "I swear, those bastards will never touch you again," he promised her. "Never again."

Leo stormed back into the room, his usual stern look back on his face. "Raphael. Master Splinter wants all of us in there NOW. Becky needs her rest. Let her be."

Raphael leaped to his feet, not letting go of her hand. His quickness took her off guard and she steadied herself to avoid falling off of the couch. Anger flared in Raphael's eyes as he stared his brother down. "I'm not leaving her. Dammit Leo, you know as well as I do what those bastards are capable of doing. You know what could have happened."

Leo remained calm, but the sternness of his voice did little to hide his irritation with his brother. "Donnie was there and he kept her safe. Look at her, she doesn't have a scratch on her. And think about it dear brother. She walked away unscathed. Don't you think bringing up what could have happened will just scare her even more?"

Defeated, Raphael looked away from him, his gaze falling back into the beautiful blues of the frail girl below him. Squeezing her hand once more, he gave in. Placing her hand upon her stomach, he let it fall as he let her go.

Following Leonardo, he left her side, allowing her the quiet she needed to try to get some rest. He only half listened as Splinter droned on about the dangers of their enemy and being topside without adequate cover and he made out bits and pieces of the humans versus mutants speech they'd all heard a million times. It wasn't until Splinter uttered the words "this is a reminder that we must avoid those who belong in the outside world" that his brain finally keyed into what Splinter was saying. His anger level elevated off the charts and he was about to go off on one of his patented outbursts, only this time, he wasn't the first to react.

A bo staff sailed through the air, splintering against the brick wall on the other side of the Dojo. Four pairs of eyes swiftly turned toward the usually quiet, passive brother who was standing with his arms crossed staring daggers at Splinter. A hush fell over the room as history was made. For the first time ever, Donatello, not Raphael, was disagreeing with Master Splinter.

"Hell no! I'm not letting her go. Not now. Not after what happened." He began to pace across the Dojo floor, now refusing to look at anyone as his emotions came out. "I know that the risk is there, but it's much safer for her if we stay part of her life. The foot know about her now and you have to realize that means they may go after her. Dammit, I want to be there in case they do, not run from her and leave her to fend for herself." He stopped, turning to once again stare at Splinter. "I can't do it Master Splinter. And I won't."

To the surprise of everyone, a smile curled upon Splinter's face. "I wasn't asking you to, my son. Becky is already very much a part of our family. I am merely offering a warning of caution for the future."

Donnie bowed his head, his emotions jumbling inside of him as his cheeks reddened from his outburst. "Thank you, Master."

With his emotions still a jumbled messs, Donatello walked out of the room, leaving his brothers behind. Splinter smiled at his back. "It's good to see him finally passionate about something other than machines," he said out loud, but to no one in particular. "Leonardo and Michelangelo, you are dismissed. Raphael, I wish to speak to you. Alone."

Exchanging glances, Leonardo and Michelangelo left the room, both knowing that their hot headed brother was about to really get it from Splinter. Though they would have enjoyed the fireworks show, both had other things to do with their evening. Mikey rejoined Casey in the kitchen sure that with a little encouragement, Casey could be convinced that going into the theme pizza business would be good for both of them.

Watching his brother, Leonardo stood behind the couch, not sure why everyone was so gravitated to the girl below him. True, she was a very nice girl, and she had the power to somehow keep Raphael in-line but also bring out the more aggressive side of Donatello. Even Splinter seemed to be in awe of her, and he had mentioned on more than one occasion that he often saw in his meditations that change would soon follow her into their lives. Could this be the change he foresaw? Or was there something more to come? Deciding to try to seek the answers for himself, Leonardo quietly slipped away toward his room for his own meditation.

Emerging from his room an hour later, the disappointment he felt from not being able to see anything in his meditation was quickly transformed into confusion when he walked back into the living room to hear Donnie yelling at Becky.

"I am just trying to protect you! Dammit Becky, I want you to be safe."

Now feeling much better after her peaceful rest, Becky was standing, her fists clenched, anger blazing in her eyes. "Protect me?!" she scoffed. "It sounds like you want to keep me in a gilded sewer cage"

Leonardo, noticing that the others were hidden in the kitchen with freshly baked pizza, made his way to join them. "What's going on?"

Raphael bit into the pizza he was holding and shook his head. "Donnie fucked himself good, that's what happened."

April rolled her eyes. "Donnie decided that the only way to keep Becky safe was to have her stay here and not go back up to the surface. As you can hear, she strongly disagrees. As well she should."

The group let out a collective gasp as they watched Becky launch the remote control at Donnie's head, hitting him right between the eyes. "I don't need to be watched like a little child. And I sure as hell don't need to listen to any more of this." Storming past the group without a goodbye, Becky flung the gate open, slamming it closed behind her. All eyes turned back toward Donnie who let out a primal scream before stomping off toward his workshop, also slamming the door behind him.

The group exchanged uncomfortable glances, not sure what to do next. With a quick game of rock, paper, scissors where Leonardo's scissors were crushed by Raphael's rock, Leo hung his head as he headed off in the direction of Donatello's workshop. As he moved out of sight, Raphael slipped out the lair gate to head surface side in an attempt to break away from the lingering hostility in the lair.


	10. Chapter 10

A shower of spoons and beaters sailed through the air landing into the soapy water in the kitchen sink. With a tug to loosen her apron so she could bend over, Becky grabbed the final pan of cookie dough and placed it with a toss into the overworked oven.

It had been a long time since she'd felt so mad at someone, so ready to kill another living being, and the feeling bothered her. The fight replayed in her mind, and her anger grew. How dare he insist that she needed someone to take care of her? After all this time as friends, didn't he know she was a very strong, independent person. She didn't need some green ninja freak telling her what to do or where to stay. Long ago she'd grown up from her childhood, leaving it behind much too early with the deaths of both of her parents. She'd learned years ago how to take care of herself, she didn't need a babysitter.

Then again, would letting someone help her really be such a bad thing?

A loud banging sounded from her bedroom window, startling her just as the timer on the counter went off. Pulling out the last batch of freshly baked cookies, she turned off the oven. It was a toss up as to which of the brothers would appear tonight. It could be Donnie coming back to apologize for his outburst, or maybe even looking to start round two of their fight. Maybe it was Mikey or Leo checking on her; Mikey to make sure she was okay, Leo to make sure she wasn't so upset that she would spill their secrets to the local news.

Or maybe it would be Raphael coming to lend a friendly ear. Though it surprised everyone, a very close friendship had formed between Becky and the loner brother. More than once, Splinter had commented to her how happy he was to see that Raphael had finally found someone he trusted enough to talk to when life got rough. Even his fights with Leonardo had become less frequent and less violent, making life in general a little easier for the family of creatures hiding in the depths of the sewer system. Somewhere she knew she would never want to live.

Another impatient knock echoed down the hall. Becky quickly stripped off her apron and ran into her room before whichever turtle had come for a visit broke through the glass. Pushing back the curtains, she didn't even look to see which of the brothers had come calling tonight. Unlatching the lock she pushed the window open, thankful not to find any cracks in the glass. Along with a cool breeze, Raphael jumped through the window, hugging her close to him.

"I was knocking for ten minutes. I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to let me in," he admitted. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry, no I'm fine. I was in the kitchen baking cookies."

"Baking cookies this late at night? Becky, I know you. That proves you aren't fine." It was true, and it proved that he knew her all too well in the short amount of time they'd known each other. Anytime she was upset, she felt it was best to keep herself busy to keep from doing something stupid that she would later regret. She'd learned early on that baking was the perfect way to stay occupied. It was a fairly safe bet that if she started pulling out ingredients and baking anything from scratch, something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

"I'll be okay. I mean, come on, it was just one stupid little fight. This will blow over in a few days. I just need to keep my mind off of the foot guys, Donnie, and what he said for a while. No biggie." She pulled away from Raphael as she moved back out of her bedroom.

He quickly followed her as she left the bedroom and made her way back to the kitchen. Picking up a spatula, she started removing the cookies from the baking pan, placing them very carefully on the wax paper covered cooling racks. Raphael reached over for one of the chocolate chip cookies, taking in the dozens of cookies sitting on her counter. Snicker doodles were stacked up on a plate on one of the counters and peanut butter cookies were sitting in a plastic container on the kitchen table with the remaining double chocolate chip cookies spread across the rest of the counter.

Raphael looked up at Becky, watching cautiously as she moved the last cookie off of the pan, placing it carefully on the corner of the filled cooling rack. Offering a friendly smile, he placed his hand gently over hers. "This looks like more than just a little sad, Becky. Are you sure you're really okay?"

Against her will, Becky's eyes misted over. She dropped the pan into the sink, turning away from him. Raphael sat where he was watching her body. Her shoulders lifted and fell hard revealing her secret that she was crying and he broke his heart. He leaped from the chair to rush over to her. Grabbing her shoulder to twist her around, he pulled her tightly against his chest. She sobbed harder and he could feel the wet tears landing against his plastron. In an attempt to comfort her, he placed a kiss upon the top of her head and held her tighter.

"This is so stupid," she said between sobs. "Absolutely stupid. I know he isn't trying to control me or my life. I know he was just trying to protect me and yes, what happened today was scary as hell, but just the thought of him... of anyone thinking that I can't take care of myself. Well, it just bothers me." She turned her head to break away from the turtle's strong grip. "And the stupidest part of all of this is that it's actually really sweet that he wants to take care of me. But what did I do? I yelled at him for it. I acted like he was the biggest jerk in the world and I yelled at him."

"Not possible," Raphael told her. "I proudly hold that title."

Wanting to smile, but unable to, she tore away from Raphael, her tears now becoming a rage of anger aimed straight at herself. Pacing across the floor, she let out a scream filled with frustration and self loathing."This was all my fault, Raph." Standing still she looked over at Raphael and started crying again. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

Her legs gave out on her and she fell to the ground, letting the gush of tears fall again. Raphael was by her side in a flash. Dropping to the ground, he reached out for her. He offered no further words of comfort, but she didn't need them. Just being in his arms as she let out all of the tears she had held back all day helped make her feel a million times better.

As the sobs subsided, she lifted her arms to hug herself against him. He pulled his arms tighter around her enclosing her in yet another hug. "I'm okay now," she whispered. Dropping her arms, she leaned back away from him, avoiding his gaze. Brushing the remaining tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, she forced a smile at her friend. "Thanks, Raph. I really needed that."

Tracing a finger along her cheek bone, he locked his eyes onto hers. "I'll always be here for you, Becky. Always."

Becky sniffed as she lifted her head. "Thanks." Becky slid her hand into his and squeezed it. "Thanks for being here for me and being such a great friend."

Raphael shrugged and squeezed her hand back. "Just, don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain you know."

She laughed. "Your secret is safe with me."

He smiled at her. "I should probably get going," he said, the smile erasing from his face. Pulling her to her feet, he hesitated before taking a step, his mind racing of something else to say. When he couldn't think of anything, he put his arm around her shoulders and led her back down the hall.

As they entered her room, they both jumped as a soft knock sounded from her window. A look of shock appeared on Becky's face as the quiet voice of Donatello filled the air. "Becky? Are you there? It's Donnie."

Stepping away from her, Raphael kissed her cheek softly. As he pushed her toward the window, he dove under the bed to keep from being discovered. Becky waited until his foot was safely tucked under the bed before pulling the curtains back. On the other side of the glass, Donnie's face was solemn, his eyes turned down avoiding her gaze. With a deep breath, she pushed open the window to let him in. He sat frozen like stone on the fire escape, a lonely tear trekking down his cheek. With a soft sigh, he managed to lift up his eyes to look at her. "I'm so sorry, Becky. About everything."

"It's okay, Donnie. It's my fault too. I over reacted. I'm a female. We tend to do that. A lot."

A small smile curled across his face. Standing up, he entered her bedroom, closing the window behind him. She grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the bedroom door, trying to give Raphael a chance to escape before Donatello could see him. "Come on in. I made cookies. You should try one."

"Yeah, of course. But in a minute. There's something I really need to say to you."

Her heart dropped as she saw the serious expression return to his face. While it was true he was almost always serious, the look on his face now was much more intense than she had ever seen before, making her uncomfortable. A small part of her was afraid she was going to burst into tears again, just from the look on his face. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Raphael was hiding under the bed. Perhaps if this turned ugly, she would need to borrow his chest to cry on again.

"Sure, Donnie," she said, trying hard to keep her voice from cracking.

Donatello walked toward her to grab her hands. Pulling her within arms length from his body, he looked deeply into her eyes. She was afraid to breath or even to blink as tears threatened to fall from her eyes again. She wasn't sure how she could possibly have any tears left to cry, but they were there, waiting for him to completely break her heart.

Sucking in a deep breath, Donnie bit his lip as though he were trying to find a way to make the forthcoming blow a little less hard to take. Her mind raced as she tried to guess what he was about to say, none of it good. Was he here to say goodbye? Let her know she wasn't safe if he and his brothers were around? While the logic would be sound, she couldn't bring herself to imagine a life without him in it. Even after such a short amount of time being his friend, she wasn't ready to let him go. Even if it was dangerous knowing him or his brothers.

Forcing her imaginary psychic power away, she forced herself to listen to whatever he needed to tell her. She bit down hard upon her lip, trying to keep from losing it in front of him. No matter what he had to say, she had to stay calm. She had to let him say whatever it was that he needed to say without breaking down. Then, once he was gone, she could cry herself to sleep.

She blinked before turning her eyes back on Donatello. As she waited for him to speak, she watched as he shook his head and closed his eyes. "I love you," he blurted out so quickly she wasn't quite sure he pronounced all of the syllables.

His words sunk in slowly. Her body collapsed from the release of nervous pressure and she fell hard against her bed. "Wha... what?" she asked. Surely her ears were playing tricks on her. There was no way that he had actually said what she thought she'd heard him say. Had he?

Donnie sat down beside her, taking both of her hands into his own. "I know it seems fast and we've only known each other a little while, but I love you, Rebecca Faye Spiegel."

She swallowed hard to try to loosen the lump lodged in her throat. A mile wide smile spread across her face as relief and surprise engulfed her. This was surreal, insane and unexpected. A confession of love had never crossed her mind, and she wanted to kick herself for being so pessimistic. He hadn't want to leave her, he wanted to be with her.

Catching the look on his face, she realized she hadn't responded to his sudden declaration. Sliding back down beside him, she smiled up at him. "Well, even though it sounds crazy, I think I love you, too."

Donnie's face instantly changed as a smile spread wide across his face. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Donatello leaned over to place a kiss upon her lips. It was sweet with a hint of nervousness, much like the one that had been interrupted earlier that day. But, this was even more exciting because this kiss was filled with love. Her heart soared as his hand wrapped around her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. The force of his mouth against hers grew, and the warm flames of passion coiled inside of her. This was real, this was exciting and new, and above all, it felt right.

Then, the spell over her was broken as she heard a faint voice from under the bed mutter very quietly "Damn."


	11. Chapter 11

Hand in hand, the new couple made their way through the sewers to the turtle's lair. As they stepped through the gate, they were met with smirking faces of their friends and family and one frown from a very annoyed turtle who had managed to make his escape from under the bed at some point during the night.

"Whoo hoo hooo," Mikey hollered. "Donnie stayed out all night with a girl. I think it's getting hot in here, Dudes."

Raphael rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, glaring at Donatello. His expression quickly changed when he caught Becky glance in his direction, concern plastered on her face. Attempting to force a smile, he watched as her face dropped and she quickly turned away from him, crimson flushing her cheeks. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards his geeky brother holding the hand of the girl that he also wanted, but definitely didn't deserve.

The touch of Master Splinter's hand caused him to turn away from the sickeningly happy couple. Splinter nodded once in Raphael's direction. Raphael lowered his head then walked back towards his room unable to remain in the same room as the love birds. Seeing Donnie's stupid grin was doing nothing to improve his mood. Loneliness was much easier to handle when secluded.

Becky watched as her friend sulked out of the room. Guilt of her happiness with his brother washed over her, but she tried to squash the uneasy feeling back down. She smiled up at Donnie, convincing herself that following Raphael would just be a mistake and would only lead to a fight. Then, in a move that surprised them all, Leonardo excused himself and followed his sullen brother. Preparing for the worst, Donnie grabbed Becky's hand and excitedly pulled on her arm to get her away from the area. "Come on," he said. "There's something I want to show you."

Before she could agree, he was pulling her toward his garage. Trying to keep up, she forced her legs to jog beside him, unsure how he managed to move so quickly-he was a turtle after all. As they approached the garage door, he slowed his pace, letting her catch her breath.

His smile spread as he reached for the door, forcing himself not to jump up and down in anticipation of her reaction. "So, as I recently told you, I've been working on a few projects and I want you to be the first to see them."

Excitement of being let into his secret world ran through her as he opened the garage door. He quickly pushed her inside and shut the door behind them, darkness blanketing them. "Ready?" She nodded, but realizing that there was no way he could see the gesture she quickly yelled yes.

Donnie flipped the light switch and proudly presented the beat up old van sitting on cinder blocks in the middle of the garage. Her eyes widened as she took in the site. "I call it the Turtle Van," he explained. "I still have a ways to go with her, but there is a lot of potential here." He began to circle around the van pointing along the way. "I'm going to install a new lift on the back here so we can all get in and out easier. Then I'm going to install computer monitors and speakers on the inside so we can listen to the police scanners and have a better awareness of our surroundings. We're going to be true crime fighting machines someday. I want to make sure we're ready."

She smiled up at him watching as he giddily ran around the van. "This is awesome," she said, running her hand along the rusted door. "Definitely shows promise."

Before she could duck into the back for a quick peek, he grabbed her hand again and pulled her further into the garage. Stopping at a tarp covered object, he smiled again. "This is for Raphael. I figure if he wants to play vigilante, he'll need it." Grabbing the tarp with both hands, he jerked it away to reveal a silver plated motorcycle. Becky let out a whistle, knowing at once that Raphael was going to love it. "I have it rigged with a police scanner, GPS system and of course, a place for a few throwing stars and smoke balls, just in case he needs them." Donnie pushed a button on the handlebars that opened up a compartment under the seat.

Becky pushed the compartment closed, sat upon the bike and grinned up at him. "Donnie, Raph is going to freak out when he sees this. It's so him!"

Nodding, he stared at the piece of machinery in front of him, his thoughts lost on his hotheaded brother. "I just hope he appreciates it," Donnie sighed.

"He will, in his own way. Just be prepared to repair it every night. You know Raph."

"That I do." Donnie grabbed her arm and helped her off of the bike. "Come on. There's one more thing I want you to see."

Leading her back toward the door, they walked back around the van to his work bench. She looked around to see a soldering iron and scraps of metal scattered around the bench. As they reached the bench, Donnie dropped her hand. Fumbling around the bench, he flicked a few papers around and grabbed a small green box from under a set of blueprints. His face reddened as he handed it to her. "I made this for you," he said shyly. "I hope you like it."

Becky smiled again, taking the box into her hands. "I'm sure I'll love it," she promised. Taking great care, she slowly removed the lid from the box and gently pushed the tissue paper out of the way. Tears welled in her eyes as the light caught the silver of the pendant in the box. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed as she pulled the silver chain out of the box. Attached to the chain was a silver turtle with an engraved shell hinged as a locket. She carefully ran her finger along the engraving finding herself in awe at the delicate features. Opening the shell, she found that the locket was empty. Looking up at him in confusion, he took the locket from her, closed it and smiled. Turning her around, he placed the chain around her neck and clasped it shut. She slowly twirled back around to face him. "It's empty," she said.

Donnie laughed at her, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. "It's for you to fill, not me."

Becky smiled, realizing that she had no photos of her friends, something that she would have to remedy. She was about to comment on her thought when Donnie muttered a quiet "crap." She looked up at him following his gaze to the clock on the wall. "What's wrong?"

"I'm late for training. You can hang out here for awhile if you want. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone though."

"Actually, I might head back to my place for awhile. I have some dishes from last night's baking session to clean up. And I forgot to bring the cookies down for the guys anyway."

Donnie grabbed her by the shoulders looking her straight in the eye. "Okay, but promise me you will be careful and watch out for anything strange. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll be fine," she promised.

Laying in her bed, Becky stared up at her ceiling, eighties pop music playing from her CD player, her broken MP3 player laid to rest on top of one of the speakers. Sighing, she let the music take her back to a simpler time, back before she needed a great protector from Foot Soldier scum. Since Donnie had gone to practice, Casey had insisted on walking her home from the lair. She wasn't completely convinced that anyone was actually following her or planning her any harm, but seeing that even Casey was a bit concerned, she was thankful that she had so many people watching out for her. Even if she did feel it was a bit excessive.

Her fingers absently ran along the chain around her neck. The locket Donnie had made her was absolutely beautiful and by far the nicest gift anyone had ever given her. The fact that he had made it by hand made it even more special and she promised herself that she would wear it every day. Glancing up at the clock, she realized she had been gone for several hours and if she didn't hurry back, Donnie was bound to send out a turtle search party.

Leaping from her bed, she ran into the kitchen to box up the cookies for her friends. She'd no sooner boxed up the last of the cookies when the expected knocking started on her window. Sighing, she left the boxes on the counter to see which brother had been sent to fetch her.

Pulling the window open, she let Donnie and Raph into her room, glaring at both of them. "First off, you guys have got to give a girl some time away. Secondly, I'm getting you all keys to my apartment and teaching you how to use a freaking door!" She looked back at them, seeing for the first time that they had unhappy looks on their face. "What's going on?"

"Mikey had a pizza experiment go awry and kinda started a fire," Raph explained, rubbing the back of his head. "It's still pretty smokey down there and Donnie and I were kinda wondering if we could stay here tonight?"

"We'll stay out in the living room, of course," Donnie rushed in, blushing.

Becky took a moment to process the request before shaking her head. "Um, no problem. Sure you guys can stay here. What about Leo, Mikey and Splinter?"

Raphael snorted. "Mikey's going to stick it out at the lair and clean up the mess he made. Leo took Splinter over to April and Casey's to stay in their spare room."

"If it's too much of an imposition, we could stay over there, too. We just thought it might be more fun to hang out here instead," Donnie added.

Becky shut the window, clicked the lock and shut the curtains. Grabbing each of their hands, she pulled the boys into the living, sat them on either side of the couch and went into the kitchen. "This is going to be so much fun," she said in her best valley girl voice. "We can, like, paint each other's nails, gab about boys and watch chick flicks all night!"

The guys turned around to face her, each with their own horror stricken look plastered on his face. "Or better thought," she said, her voice back to normal. "I pop some popcorn, make some daiquiris and we watch _The Avengers_."

"Much better plan, Babe" Raph said, "But can you make mine a beer? I'll leave the girly drinks to you and Donnie here."

"Hey, I happen to like daiquiris," Donnie protested.

"Such a girl," Raph whispered.

"I don't have any beer, Raph. You'll have to go over to April's and raid Casey's fridge."

Raphael shot her a shocked look. With his hand clutching his chest he stood with his mouth wide open."How do you not have beer in this place?"

Rolling her eyes, she pulled a bag of ice from the freezer. "I don't drink the swill."

Raph stood up, heading to the front door. "Well Babe, if I'm going to be hanging out here with ya, you're gonna have to stock up."

"I'm sorry, when did I become your wife? You can get your own damn beer," she smiled at him. Smirking back, he slammed the door as he headed down the hall.

Filling the blender with ice, Becky set to work on the good drinks as Donnie tried to get comfortable on the couch. "Hey Donnie," Becky called from the kitchen.

Hearing his name, he jumped up, nearly running into the room. "Yes?"

She released a laugh as she watched him nearly trip over himself. "Well, I was thinking that maybe, if you wanted to that is, we could put Raph in the spare bedroom and you could, um, well, um."

"Stay in your room tonight?" As he asked, the deep red returning to his cheeks. Blushing she bit her bottom lip and nodded her head. Trying to play it cool, Donnie leaned an elbow against the kitchen counter, nearly missing. "Yeah, well," he cleared his throat. "I was gonna suggest that but I didn't want you thinking I was being too pushy or anything."

Becky rolled her eyes, and laughed. "It's not like you haven't stayed the night in my bed before."

"True," he began but was interrupted when he lost his balance. His feet refused to gain traction and he crashed right into the blender. The appliance crashed to the floor shooting ice and shattered glass all over the tile. "Oh no," he called out. Regaining his balance, he reached over to pick Becky up off of the floor and carried her to the couch. "Stay here while I clean that up. I'm so sorry."

As he turned to head back to the kitchen, his foot caught the leg of the coffee table sending him crashing on top of Becky on the couch. To add to his never ending embarrassment, Donatello noticed that Raphael chose that exact moment to return with a cooler full of beer. Catching the two on the couch he let out an exaggerated sigh. "Dudes, that's where I'm sleeping tonight. Can't you do that somewhere else?"


	12. Chapter 12

The next few months passed on fairly quietly, much to Becky's delight. Work was work, dates with Donnie became increasingly more frequent with most nights inside her apartment watching movies or down in the lair working on projects together and a few nights spent staying up well into the early morning hours talking. She'd spent some time in the kitchen with Mikey attempting to introduce him to foods other than pizza, but not having much luck with anything other than lasagna with peperoni and sausage. She'd even managed to spend some time with Leonardo discussing art and even taking a trip with him and Donnie to an art museum to discuss a renaissance exhibit after hours thanks to a security guard friend of hers. Splinter had also squeezed in some one on one time with her, filling her in more on his past life as a human and younger ninja and thanking her for helping his sons find a new ally and confident.

Though he'd lumped all four of the brothers together, she'd immediately understood that he meant one turtle in particular.

She truly treasured the occasional nights where she and Raphael would head out to his secret spot and just talk as though the rest of the world ceased to exist. It was nights such as these, that she felt the most relaxed, sitting on a giant boulder, looking up at the stars and not having to worry about anything. The other turtles had no idea where they were, she didn't get the school-girl crush jitters like she still sometimes had when she was alone with Donnie, and she didn't have to behave like the good girl she usually was in public. She could be herself, happy or sad, excited or pissed off. Raphael never seemed to mind her cussing like a sailor or crying like a baby. She was free to be herself, and she liked it.

On this particular night, they were sitting together, her head rested in his lap, him leaning back using his arms as support, staring up at the sky above them. They'd spent most of the night in silence, just enjoying the peace surrounding them, each lost in their own thoughts. Though they'd done their best to shield her from their nightly duties, they weren't able to hide the new bruises and cuts on their bodies, and Becky had noticed the newest scar on Raphael's leg as they sat together in the dim lit night. Over the past few months, she'd learned not to ask him about his nightly adventures in vigilante heroics, but every now and then he would admit his actions on his own. When he cleared his throat, she prepared herself for a long story of crime fighting, realizing too late that she really should have braced herself for a very uncomfortable conversation instead.

"Do you think you guys will get married?" Raphael asked quietly, breaking the silence that had persisted for the last hour.

Taken by surprise, Becky shrugged, still looking up at the sky. Drawing in a breath, she worded her response carefully. "The subject's never come up. I'm not really looking for a husband, reptile or otherwise. Besides, Rebecca Ninja Turtle really doesn't sound all that great."

"Rebecca Hamato," he corrected her. "Technically our last name is Hamato because of Splinter. When you anglicize it, it's our last name."

She tore her eyes from the stars to look at him. Seeing the look on his face, she knew he wasn't joking. "I never really thought about it that way."

"We have middle names, too. Not that we ever really use them. It's been years since Splinter scolded us. Raphael Firenzi, what do you think you were doing staying out all night!" he mimicked. "I used to get that a lot."

"Firenzi?" she asked.

"Hey it could be worse. It could be Jiacobbe."

She let out a small laugh. "Who's is that?"

Raph laughed with her. "Mikey's."

"Oh boy! I'll never complain about Faye again."

Nodding his head, he smiled down at her. "Donnie's is Giovanni, if you ever need to use it."

She committed the name to memory, sure that eventually a fight would break out between the two of them where she'd need to remember that name. "What's Leo's?"

"Ah, Splinter Junior. His is Yoshi which just goes to show that he was Splinter's favorite from the start."

She elbowed him in the side, causing him to grunt in pain. "Splinter doesn't have a favorite and you know it."

Raphael scoffed. "Seriously? Five months with us and you don't see it? Leo has him wrapped around his finger."

"I don't think Leo sees it that way. He has a lot of pressure put on him trying to lead a group of brothers who are so very different and try to do it while under the ever watching eye of your father. That has to be a living hell."

Raph sat up straight, staring down at her face. "Are you for real, Becks? Leo gets to boss us around and treat us like his own personal soldiers. The high and mighty leader of the team. Believe me, I never asked to be led."

"And he never asked to lead, did he?" The stern look on her face confused him. Anger began to boil in his blood but he forced it back knowing that his anger wasn't truly focused on her.

"Why the hell are you suddenly taking Leo's side? What, the two of you best friends or somthin'?"

Becky sat up, putting her hands in his. "No, the position of my best friend has already been filled. By you."

Raphael opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again. Looking at her, his facial expression softening, he squeezed her hand. "I'm your best friend?" His voice was soft, unsure as he spoke.

Rolling her eyes, she scooted back down, once again using his thigh as a pillow. "Wow, Raph. Five months of talking in the moonlight and you don' see it?" she joked. He let out a huff and she couldn't stop herself. "I have you wrapped around my little finger."

Jerking his hands away from hers, he grabbed her arms and tickled her until she was nearly in tears from the laughter. Deciding she'd had enough, he leaned back against the boulder this time wrapping his arms around her. "You're my best friend too ya know."

"Yeah, I know. I just wasn't sure you did."

Raphael stayed quiet again, lost in thought once more. Clearing his throat, he coughed before he spoke again. "Becky. Um, I was wondering. If, um. If you hadn't ended up with Donnie, do you think that maybe. Maybe you could have fallen for a hot headed sarcastic pain in the ass?"

Thinking for a moment, trying to mold the right words, Becky closed her eyes. Keeping them shut, she simply responded "I owe it to our friendship, and my relationship with your brother to keep that answer my little secret. It's better that way."

Raphael laughed. "I knew you wanted me."

"Think you'll ever get married?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Only if you come to your senses and leave my brother." She slapped his leg. "Oh yeah, you know I like it rough."

She flashed him a dirty look. "You really are a pain in the ass."

"No. I mean, yes, I'm a pain in the ass, and remember that you are, too. But, no. I don't think I will ever get married. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with you, but over all, people pretty much piss me off. I'm definitely the loner type."

Silence once again filled the air, followed by a chilly fall wind. Becky shivered as the cold hit her. Raphael quickly sat back up, pulling her closer to him to try to keep her warm. "Wanna go back in?" he asked, holding her against his chest.

"Not really. It's not too bad out, yet. Though, next time I really should bring a jacket. Unless.. do you wanna head back in?"

He stretched out, his face to the sky. "No way. I could stay out here all night. You know me, I hate being cooped up in the lair. I need to get out, feel the wind in my face."

"Kick some criminal ass," she finished for him.

"Exactly. You know me so well."

They were quiet again when Raphael moved to sit on the boulder beside to her. "Don't hit me, but I am curious. Have you two, well, you know. Done the, um. Oh hell. Have you two had sex yet?"

Becky punched him in the arm, a look between shock and horror crossing her face. "I can't believe you just asked me that! That is really none of your business."

"Which means, yes," Raphael said, laughing. She punched him again, rolling her eyes. The silence returned, but she didn't try punching him again. Instead, she found herself lost in thought of her love life and the mutant green turtle she called her boyfriend. And she found herself questioning her sanity for the billionth time in five months. She was a human, and he was a turtle. How could she ever have thought that was a good combination? Her heart sank as she thought about it, truly thought about it, for a few minutes.

"Raph," she said quietly, then paused not sure how to continue.

"Yeah?" he said, noticing at once the worry in her voice.

She bit her lip, surprised that it hadn't started bleeding from all of the nervous biting she did. "I need you to be serious for a minute, which I know, is hard for you. But..."

"Becky, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, accidentally hitting his cheek with her pony tail. "Do you think Donnie and I are crazy? Do you think we could really have a functional relationship? We are literally from two different worlds. I mean, is this just a giant mistake?"

Raphael pushed away from the rock to turn her around to face him. Grabbing on to her shoulders to look her straight in the eye, he sat up as straight as he could and told her "You and Donnie have something amazing that none of us ever thought we could find. Listen to me Rebecca Faye. There is nothing crazy about the two of you. You love each other and that's all that matters. Don't ever forget that."

Leaning against him, she hugged him and murmured "Thank you," into his chest. "I needed that."

"Anytime," he said, wanting to kick himself, but knowing that he had done the right thing. He felt as she shifted back around, using his chest now as a pillow and they sat in silence gazing up at the stars until the night air turned cold enough that Becky finally decided she needed to go in.

After walking her back to the living room to watch a movie with Donatello, Raphael debated hoping on his motorcycle for a night of stress relief in the form of punching some low life creeps, but thought better of it knowing that Leonardo had already warned them they would have a surface training the next day. Those usually brought on plenty of injuries on their own and he wasn't really looking forward to it, but knew that after the trainings, Donnie usually went straight to bed so he'd have another night alone with his best friend. The thought carried into his dreams throughout the night.

The next night, Raphael and Becky found themselves back out among the stars and rocks, this time with Becky's jacket in tow and the atmosphere not as relaxed and cuddly as Raphael had planned.

Pacing back and forth, Raphael wrung his hands together as his body shook from nerves. Seeing the terrified look in Becky's eyes, he shook away his own tears and memories and finally released his anguish by yelling into the night. "What the hell was Leo thinking today? Was he trying to get us fucking killed? I mean, what the hell! Did he really not think it could have been a fucking trap? Our idiot leader is going to kill someone Becky. He's going to fucking kill someone."

Raphael continued pacing around the rocky terrain as Becky tried to avoid being stepped on from her spot on the blanket. Fighting back the tears, she tried not to remember watching the turtles return from their training mission. "What exactly happened tonight?" she asked, the sight of Leo and Donnie carrying Mikey's unconscious body into the lair still burning in her mind.

All four of the turtles had returned to the sewers covered in blood. One of Leonardo's katanas had a broken tip, Donnie's bo was in pieces and she hadn't even had a chance to ask where Mikey's nun-chucks had disappeared to when she noticed his belt was empty.

As soon as they'd laid Mikey on the couch, Splinter had started barking out orders to Donnie and Leo. She stood back out of the way, looking on, waiting for something to be said. Raphael, trying to hide a tear in his eye and had huffed out of the lair, leaving any form of disguise behind. Unable to find the strength to stay behind, she quickly followed him figuring if she'd had any chance at all of finding out what had happened, he would be the one to tell her.

The metal clang from his sais hitting the rocks as he threw them down caused her to jump, and she moved further from the edge of the rocks. "It was a massacre. A fucking blood bath. Becky, I don't know how we made it out of there alive and I'm so glad you weren't there." He stopped, punching a boulder then cursing at the pain. Becky refused to move but guessed that he'd just broken his hand, though he would never admit it. "There were at least a hundred of those guys. They came down out of nowhere. And Leo took us there. Him and his great leadership." He picked up a rock with his good hand, chucking it as far out as he could.

Turning, he faced Becky, looking her in the eyes for the first time that night. She could see the horror in his face, the fear in his eyes, and it scared her. Of all of the turtles, he was the one that had always stayed strong, that could hide emotions from his face. But tonight, tonight it was all there. The fear, the worry, the sadness.

"It was just supposed to be an outdoor training session. A nice quiet place with no one around. But not tonight, with all of us there, thinking we were safe, and there they were, the foot morons. And they just jumped us. They had the full advantage."

He stopped, the memory replaying in his head, the sheer terror showing on his face and the thought of what could have happened. He shook his head forcing the thought away not wanting to think about how much worse it could have been. Becky slowly stood up, trying to avoid any sudden movements and walked cautiously towards her friend. "Raph?" she asked as she grew closer. He turned in her direction, his eyes glazed over.

"They took out Mikey. It was all we could do to get him up and get us all out of there." She noticed the water in his eyes, the defeated look on his face. "It was... it was..." the tears began to fall as he tried to finish his sentence. "What if he dies?"

The thought was too much for him, and he crumpled into a heap on the rock. His tears were intense, his breathing forced. He clenched his fists, holding them to his head. Afraid to touch him out of fear that he might instinctively strike out, Becky crouched beside him, keeping her eyes locked on him.

Never before had he broken down like this. Not in front of Becky, or his brothers or anyone. This was something new for him and he didn't like. He was used to having his emotions take him over, control him, but it was always anger. Never in his life had he ever remembered that strong amount of fear overtaking his mind and body. Never before had he unleashed this amount of tears. And never before had he worried that he or his brothers were not invincible. Yes, they were mutants, but tonight had shown him what he should have already known-they were mortal.

His body weakened, and he fell on his ass against the ground, his shell resting against the rock behind him. His sobs subsided, but the tears still fell. He looked up at Becky, taking comfort in her ocean blue eyes, thankful that she hadn't run off screaming when he lost control of himself. He reached out toward her, and she grabbed his hand, squeezing it in her own.

Emotions flooded over him, causing his self control to break. Wanting to kiss her, he fought back the urge knowing that he had no business doing so. Instead, he threw his head back, banging it against the rocks but feeling too numb to notice the pain. He saw a strange look cross her face, and felt her pull her hands away from him. For a moment he feared he had run her off, but he watched as she pulled her buzzing cell phone out of her pocket.

Flipping the phone open, she skimmed a message before looking back at the turtle. "It's a text from Donnie. April and Casey just showed up. Mikey's still out cold but his breathing is back to normal." Raphael let out a sigh of relief. "He does want to know where we are and when we are coming back." She sucked in a breath, looking hard at the turtle. "Raph, it's up to you. We don't have to go back yet. And I won't tell him why."

Raph shook his head. "I'm not ready to go back, Becky. I can't let me brothers see me like this. I can't."

She placed her hand against his shoulder. "I completely understand."

Typing a message back to Donnie, she slid back down by Raphael, taking him into her arms and cradling his head against her shoulder. "I wish I could tell you everything is going to be okay Raph, but I can't."

Raphael sniffed, taking in the warmth of her body against his. "I know."


	13. Chapter 13

Several hours passed before Raphael regained control of his emotions and felt he could face his brothers again. Donnie had sent a few more messages their way, the last one letting them know that Mikey's status had not changed but Leo had finally surrounded to sleep. Becky kept her promise to Raphael and never revealed where they were or that it was because of Raphael's emotional meltdown that they were still gone. Instead, she continued to assure Donatello that they were okay and would be back as soon as possible.

Donatello was still awake when they finally walked through the lair gate. As soon as she stepped instead, he threw his arms around Becky, holding her against him as tightly as he could. It had been hard for him to let her go with Raphael after he and his brothers returned to the lair with Mikey. He'd wanted to just hold her close, never let her go, but he was so shaken up after the ambush that he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to hold up in front of her. Besides, Raphael had been a wreck and he knew as well as the rest of his family that if anyone could help his brother pick up the pieces, it was her.

As Donnie hugged her, Becky noticed that none of his wounds had been tended to and with a quick kiss to his cheek, she pulled away from him heading straight for the kitchen. Reaching into a half open drawer, she pulled out a handful of cloths and tape. She then busied herself filling a pot with cool water, grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink and made an ice pack.

"I want both of you sitting on a chair right this minute," she ordered Raphael and Donatello. "NOW" she yelled, pointing toward the wooden chairs when the boys didn't move. Setting the supplies on the table, she first grabbed Raphael's wrist, placed his punching hand on the table and set the ice pack against his knuckles. She watched him wince as the pack touched his hand, but she refused to let him remove it.

Next, she looked over Donatello, placing a hand against his face. "Are you okay?" she asked him, once again taking in the open cuts and newly formed bruises spread across his body.

He shook his head, looking toward his unconscious brother who was being fussed over by April and Splinter. "I could be worse," he said, his voice soft.

She nodded slowly, applying an alcohol soaked rag to the sword cuts on his arm. He closed his eyes, the sting of the alcohol causing a sudden pain to shoot straight through him. He wanted to open his eyes, to look at Becky and memorize every last feature of her face, her eyes, her hair. Her image had appeared to him over and over again during the battle, and his biggest fear hadn't been in dying, but in never seeing her again. The mere thought kept him going. Even after seeing his baby brother go down, and fearing that they may not make it out alive, he thought of her, and it gave him the strength he needed to get out of there along with his brothers.

Noticing the warmth of her touch was gone, he opened his eyes to see that his arms and legs had been bandaged and Becky had moved back over to Raphael. She was carefully wrapping a bandage around the top of Raphael's head, when Donatello noticed Raphael trying to mouth something to him, but he couldn't quite make it out. Knowing that whatever it was, Raphael didn't want Becky to know, he figured a distraction was in order.

"Becky," Donatello called. "When you're done wrapping Raph's head, could you go check on Leo? Master Splinter finally got him to go to bed, but I'm not sure he ever got his cuts cleaned out."

"Of course," she said. Cutting off the excess cloth from Raphael's bandage, she looked over the two turtles with a sigh. "Are you guys going to be okay for a few minutes?"

"Yes, Nurse Becky," Raphael said, a sly grin on his face. "But, be a dear and on your way back here and go put on a naughty nurse outfit. It would make me feel so much better."

"Yeah, you're definitely back to normal," she sighed, gathering her supplies. Though she rolled her eyes at the turtle in red, she was secretly happy to have him slowly returning back to his usual self. "I'll be back in a little while to check on you."

Donatello watched her leave and waited until he saw the light on Leonardo's room click on before leaning over towards Raphael. Deciding there wasn't enough time to yell at his brother for the nurse costume comment, he whispered to his brother. "What were you trying to tell me? I couldn't figure it out."

Raphael leaned in, keeping his voice low so it wouldn't carry down the sewer line to Leonardo's room. "I kind of lied to Becky. I didn't tell her that we were at her apartment building when we got jumped. I didn't want to scare her even more. She was already pretty upset with how banged up we were. I didn't want to make it worse by telling her the full truth."

"I'm actually glad you didn't tell her," Donatello said, leaning back against his chair. "We have to figure out a way to get her down here with us. Raph, could you imagine what would have happened to her if she had been home and we hadn't been there to stop them on the roof? Neither April or Casey were there to help her!"

Raphael raised a hand to silence his brother. "Donnie, just stop. Neither one of us wants to think about that."

Donnie thought for a moment, "It's not going to be easy to get her to move down here. Remember how she reacted the last time I brought it up?" Donatello shuddered and Raphael laughed. "I guess for now we can just keep up patrols of the place. And I can set up some surveillance cameras on the roof, in the entry ways and in her apartment. I'll have to be careful so she doesn't see them of course..." he trailed off, his geek mode hitting full force as he started thinking of ways to integrate computer software into his cell phone to view the cameras from anywhere.

Raphael sighed as he tried to bring his brother out of his geeky daze. "Well, while you do that, I'll just set up camp in her bed and keep her safe. Might even get a little thank you action in the process," he said as far from serious as possible.

Donatello's head jerked over in his direction. "No way, Raph!"

"Well now that I have your attention, she's coming back so you need to act normal. Or as close to it as you usually are."

Donatello glared at his brother but quickly changed his expression as Becky slumped down in a chair, dumping the supplies out of her arms and onto the table. She looked over at the turtles, her sleepy eyes red and drooping. Placing his hand over hers, Donatello let out a sigh. "Becky, it's late and you look drained. Why don't you go get some sleep?"

Becky shook her head, gently squeezing his hand. "I'm okay. I just need some caffeine."

"No," Raphael said sternly. He removed the ice pack from his hand, stood up and grabbed her arms to pull her up. "What you need is sleep. It's not going to do any of us any good if you wear yourself out trying to take care of us. We're fine. Sheesh."

Donatello pulled himself up. Stepping toward her, he took her hands from Raphael and wrapped her into his own arms. "Come on, I'll go with you."

"So I won't try to escape?" she asked through a yawn.

"Precisely."

Donatello held a sleeping Becky against his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. She'd only been able to fight him a few minutes before exhaustion won out and she fell asleep against him. He didn't want to let her go. Instead, he lay in his bed just staring at her, thankful once again that she hadn't been home. Though he kept telling himself he didn't want to think about it, his mind kept going back to thoughts of just how badly the night could have turned out, and he shuddered every time.

He had to give it to Leonardo, his instincts had been pretty good, other than the whole almost getting them all killed part. As they were doing their usual nightly patrol, Leonardo had a strange feeling to go check out the apartment complex. They hadn't heard anything as they made their way to the rooftop, and there was nothing blatantly out of the ordinary. There were no clues or warnings that an ambush was imminent. At least, not until the first throwing star sailed past Donatello's nose and right into Leonardo's arm.

All eyes quickly turned in the direction the star had come from, black forms stepping out of the shadows. Then, in a wall of ninja soldiers, the attack began. Sword blades were swung from all directions, more throwing stars sailed through the air, and punches were flying.

Raphael reacted first, shoving his sai against one of the foot soldier's head, knocking him to the ground. Then Michelangelo's nun-chucks were twirling around, knocking out a few more soldiers. Donatello and Leonardo quickly drew their own weapons, wildly trying to keep their attackers at bay.

Without warning, a loud popping sound came from the other side of the roof and a mini-explosion went off, sending Michelangelo flying into a wall and knocking him out. The foot continued their attack, out numbering the turtles easily twenty to one. Donatello and Raphael had both made their way to Leonardo, looking for his leadership to guide them out of there, but his eyes were locked on Michelangelo. Raphael pulled Leonardo out of the way of a sword, then kicked the attacker sending him flying into two other foot soldiers. Then, Raphael ran over to Michelangelo, picked him up and yelled something about a retreat. Donatello had grabbed on to Leonardo, pulling him off of the roof in time to narrowly escape a barrage of throwing stars.

Using a secret exit on the side of the building that April had once told them about, they were only barely able to escape when the blaring sirens of New York's boys in surrounded the apartment building. The turtles didn't bother sticking around to see if the foot had made it out or how many ended up arrested. All they could think about was getting back to the lair and tending to their brother.

Seeing Becky's face turn to dread when she'd seen Michelangelo's limp body being carried into the lair, Donatello knew he couldn't tell her what had really happened. He wanted to run to her, hold her against him as hard as he could and never let go, but he knew that he'd have to explain why he was acting so crazy and his mind just couldn't form a coherent story. For the first time that he could remember, he was actually relieved when he'd seen her follow Raphael out of the lair. The relief came back again when Raphael had revealed that he'd lied to Becky to keep her from knowing just how close to danger she could have been.

Even now, thinking about the events of the evening, Donatello still couldn't figure out if the foot had been there hoping the turtles would show up to ambush them, or if they were hiding there until Becky had arrived home or if it was just one helluva coincidence. Either way, he knew it wasn't safe for her up there alone. He hugged her tighter against him, playing with the idea of handcuffing her to him so she would never be away from him. Chances were Raphael had a pair of handcuffs or two in his room that he could borrow.

The faint knock on his door pushed the thought out of his head. Before he could ask who it was, Casey's head peeked through the door. "He's awake," he said. "Thought you might want to come see him."

Donatello let out a breath that he'd been holding for hours. Thankful that his baby brother had regained consciousness, he reluctantly released his hold on Becky taking care to slip her onto the bed without waking her up. She stirred slightly as he rolled off the mattress but she stayed asleep. Though he knew she'd want to know that Michelangelo was okay, he also knew she was in desperate need of some rest. Knowing he would likely hear about it in the morning, he silently crept out of the room letting her sleep.

Stepping out of the room, Donatello saw that Leonardo and Raphael were already at their brother's side.

"So, dudes," Michelangelo said, struggling to sit up. "Anyone get the license plate number of the delivery truck that hit me?"

"Sorry, Mike. We were a little too busy trying to get us all out of there." Leonardo held out his hand, helping to pull his brother into a sitting position.

"So, um Dudes. What happened?"

Raphael sat next to him on the couch. "You don't remember?"

"No, not really. I mean, I remember there were a lot of foot ninjas beating the snot out of us and then everything kinda went dark."

"My son, that's probably for the best." Splinter joined the brothers on the couch, looking over his sons carefully. "You are all very lucky to be alive. After speaking with Raphael and Leonardo, I agree that it is best to use this as a learning experience. You must always use caution and be aware of your surroundings, even when they are usually quite safe. And, though you know how much I dislike dishonesty, I also agree that we stick with Raphael's story and not let Becky know what truly happened to you last night. There is no need to worry the poor girl any more than she already does."

The brother's nodded their agreement. April brought over a glass of water for Michelangelo before sitting on Casey's lap in the chair. "So, what do we do to keep other attacks on the building from happening?"

"Way ahead of you, April," Donatello said. Raphael let out a groan, but he ignored it. "I have devised an intricate surveillance system using cameras and our phones where we will be able to have full eyes on the building at all times. I'll just need you guys to help in distracting Becky long enough for Casey, Leo and I to set up the cameras."

"Why don't I get to help?" Raphael asked. "You saying I'm not careful enough with your lousy equipment?"

"Not at all," Donatello quipped. "I figure out of all of us, you'd be the most likely to keep Becky away long enough so we could have a chance to get everything set up. You two seem to be able to spend hours together without any of us knowing where you. Might as well put it to good use."

Raphael quickly picked up on the annoyance in his brother's voice, but chose to ignore it. "So when should I plan our big date?"

"It's not a date," Donatello said, the annoyance growing in his voice. "And shut up or I'll change my mind and let Mikey keep her distracted."

"Hell yeah," Michelangelo said a little too enthusiastically, becoming woozy and having to lay back down on the couch. "Video game marathon, with a girl!"

Letting out a sigh, Donatello shook his head. "Never mind, Raph. You're in. But it's still not a date."


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning Becky stormed into the living, smacking Donatello in the back of the head. Glaring daggers, she waited for him to turn around. "What the Hell Donnie! Pimping me out for a date with Raph? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Donatello's eyes grew wide as he stood up, stomping down the hall towards Raphael's room. He had already pounded on the door twice before he heard the laughter of Becky, Michelangelo and Raphael from behind him. Twirling around to face his brothers and girlfriend, he frowned.

"Gotcha!" Raphael said, pointing at him with fake finger guns.

"Becky, why do you encourage him?" Donatello asked, trying to catch his breath.

"'Cuz it's fun," she replied, slapping Raphael a high three. Donatello shook his head and smiled. Though he wasn't terribly happy about their prank, or the slap to the head, he loved hearing her laughter fill the air of the den. The smile quickly faded as Michelangelo spoke.

"Sometimes I worry what would have happened if you two had ended up together after all," Michelangelo told them, refusing to look up at Donatello's stink eye.

"It wouldn't have worked," Becky said matter of factly. "We make great friends, but as a couple we'd fight more than him and Leo, with more blood shed."

Raphael laughed "Yeah, but we'd have some really hot make up sex," he added. Becky simply replied by smacking a pillow into his face. Shooting a devilish grin towards Donatello, Raphael continued. "Oh, who am I kidding. We already do."

Becky punched at him, but he swerved out of the way. Distracted by her growl, Raphael didn't notice Donatello move in behind him. "That's it," Donatello yelled. Grabbing Raphael by the arm, he twirled his brother around to face him. "I am sick of your perverted remarks about MY GIRLFRIEND!" Before anyone could stop him, Donatello raised his arm, punching Raphael straight in the face, knocking him to the ground. Becky gasped, but Michelangelo pulled her back before she could try to break up the fight, or inadvertently end up in the middle of it.

"For crying out loud, I'm just joking around," Raphael said, pulling himself up.

"No, once maybe twice is a joke, but with you, it's almost every day. I get it Raph. You're mad because the only person in the entire world who can tolerate being near you for any length of time is in love with me. Get over it. Or else."

Raphael's anger got the better of him. Glaring at Donatello, he let out a breath, hot and heavy. "Or else what?" Raphael growled. Taking another step forward, he moved so that his face was right up against Donatello's, his fists raised and ready to launch.

"Or else I will forbid you from EVER spending time with her again."

"Excuse me!?" Becky yelled, her patience gone. "Donatello Giovanni Hamato, you have absolutely no say on who I choose to spend my time with. And Raphael, this macho sex crazed version of you has completely lost it's charm." Grabbing her jacket from the back of the couch, Becky made her way to the gate. "I think I've had enough of both of you for awhile. I'm out of here."

So wrapped up in their anger towards each other, she was already long gone before Michelangelo was able to break the brothers apart. It was still a few moments longer before they quit staring each other down long enough to realize that she had gone topside alone. Putting their fight on hold, the three brothers chased after her but without any immediate luck in locating her. "I have got to put a tracking device on her phone," Donatello muttered to himself. "I have a feeling she's going to end up disappearing more often."

Raphael put a hand on Donatello's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bro. You know, for lusting after your girlfriend in front of you and everything."

Donatello responded by turning around and heading back to the lair. Raphael thought about chasing after him, but thought better of it and headed down the sewers to his secret thinking spot. As he approached the opening, he was quite surprised to see that the grate was already open, and even more surprised to see that Becky was already there, having found the way on her own.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he stepped through the opening. She jumped, not noticing his arrival. Twirling around to face him, she crossed her arms to glare at him.

"I figured you'd get here sooner or later," she said. "And I really didn't want to chance Donnie seeing this." She moved toward him, an odd expression on her face.

Raphael released a sigh. "Look, Becky, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier," he began but was interrupted by her mouth covering his in a kiss. Confused, he stood there like an idiot before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back.

She tasted like forbidden fruit that he just couldn't get enough of. Risking a slap to the face, he pushed his tongue against her lips, surprised once again when she opened her mouth to let him in. His arms loosened their grip as one hand tangled itself in her hair as the other arm wrapped around her waist, holding her against his body. Her own arms wrapped around his neck, as she continued to kiss him as her arms slid away, her hands slowly moving down the back of his shell. A shiver ran down his body as his mind raced through a million thoughts of what he wanted to do to her.

Then, a thought he hadn't wanted to think about crossed his mind, and he found himself pushing her away. "We can't do this," he told her, holding her at arms length. "It would be a mistake. You aren't mine." He looked at her, noticing a smile cross her face and he instantly knew that he'd been had. "You set me up, didn't you?'

She smiled, raising her eyebrows at him. "It was the only way I could think of to get you to realize what a giant ass you've been."

Raphael let her go, feeling defeated, but he knew he couldn't stop being him. "If I promise not to make the comments in front of Donnie any more, can I still make them around you?"

"I guess," she said slowly. "But you have to know it's never going to go anywhere, Raph. I love you, but in a completely different way than I love your brother. He's the one my heart belongs to."

Raphael rubbed a hand against the back of his head and he hoped she couldn't hear the sound of his heart deflating. "I know."

"Good. Now that this is settled, can you help me get back to the lair? It really was by complete accident that I managed to get out here. I really don't think I can make it back."

"Um, yeah, but just one more minute." He pulled her towards him again, leaned in and kissed her one more time. Once again he expected to be slapped but was relieved when she kissed him back again. Pulling away, he noticed the crimson in her cheeks. "We really could have a very hot night together," he whispered in her ear.

"Only if the world is burning in flames around us," she replied and headed back into the sewer, breaking the spell that had come over him.

After the encounter with Raphael, Becky decided it would be best to get out of the sewers for awhile, much to Donatello's protest. With her in the apartment, Donatello and Leonardo had to get creative in their attempts to secure the area and put up the security cameras around the building, but they managed to pull it off. If she had noticed anything out of the ordinary, she hadn't let on, and Donatello, trying his best not to invade her privacy any further, made sure to keep the roof top and hallway cameras always on, but only checked the cameras in her apartment when he felt he needed to check on her.

As the days passed, Donnie missed her terribly, but reminded himself that he had agreed to give her some space. Over the two weeks she was gone, she made sure to text him at least once a day, and he'd visited her a few times but kept the visits well under an hour.

Raphael had decided he needed a cooling off period and avoided her window, refusing to listen to the voice in his clouded mind that told him one quick visit wouldn't hurt anything. Instead, he spent his late night hours tracking crime and taking the law into his own hands to pass the time. The occasional hits to the face from thugs and burglars were far less painful than his breaking heart.

Michelangelo's wounds healed quickly, and he was back to work in the kitchen baking pizzas in just a few short days. Though he still had one hell of a headache from time to time, he bounced back into his usual routines with little problem, but found himself sad to not hear a feminine voice echoing down the hall or trying to convince him to eat something other than pizza.

It was Master Splinter's behavior that changed the most in the time she was gone. His meditative thoughts were becoming darker and he sensed a negative change coming into the lives of his sons, but he wasn't able to pin point exactly what it was or when it would happen. As the days of her absence continued, he found himself checking Donatello's surveillance screens multiple times a day, and suggested that his sons install a few more along the path back to their lair. Just in case.

Splinter's fears soon quieted down the day he made his way into the dojo to check his sons' progress for the week and he saw Becky in the middle of the floor stretching beside Donatello. A small smile curled at his lips as he saw the two of them next to each other, but a small lump in the back of his throat caught him off guard. Pushing the lump down and the fears to the back of his mind, he quickly called for the group's attention and gave them the rest of the night off.

"Score, pizza making with my favorite sis!" Michelangelo yelled. Running for the door, he grabbed onto Becky's hand, pulling her towards the kitchen. Leonardo and Donatello shook their heads before splitting off, Donatello heading back to his workshop and Leonardo to the living room, promising himself that he would actually enjoy his night off from training. As he turned to leave, Leonardo caught a glimpse of Splinter and Raphael in the middle of a heated conversation. Deciding it was best to stay out of it, he shut the dojo door behind him knowing full well Splinter could take Raphael on his own.

A few minutes later, as Becky and Michelangelo put their super supreme deluxe pizza in the oven, Raphael stormed through the room, out of the lair and into the darkness of the sewers. Becky quickly decided that this was one time she was not going to run after him, and instead agreed to watch a movie with Michelangelo. It had been way too long since she'd had some one on one time with the youngest turtle, and after being away for so long, she needed to just let loose and not have to think too hard. Spending an hour and a half with _Howard the Duck_ seemed like the most mindless thing she could do.

Leonardo shook his head at his brother's selection and graciously bowed out of the movie. Leaving the room, he revered down the hall towards Donatello's workshop. Though he tried to keep the Foot and Shredder out of his mind, he assured himself that checking the monitors wasn't really work and was an acceptable way to spend his free evening. "Anything going on at the apartment building?" he asked his brother who was hovering over the screens.

"Not a thing," Donatello replied. "Not a single sighting of any of the foot since that night up on the roof. It has me worried, Leo. I mean, what are they planning? And when will they strike next?"

"All good questions. I wish I had the answers."

Donatello turned away from the screens, looking at his older brother. "Hey, Leo. Can I talk to you? You know, for some brotherly advice."

Leonardo pulled up the empty bar stool to sit next to his brother. "Of course, Donnie. What's going on?"

Donatello stood up, pacing across the workshop floor. "Okay, well you see. I know that you don't really think it's a good idea to trust the humans and everything and that you really aren't comfortable with me dating a human but, well..." he trailed off, not wanting to look at his brother, but also not really sure how to finish the sentence. "Leo, is Becky really that bad for us?" he rushed through, holding his breath as he waited for a reply.

Leonardo chuckled, shaking his head. "I think she's wonderful and probably one of the best things to happen to us," he replied.

Donatello released the breath he was holding, turning on his heels to look at his brother. "But, Leo, she's... Wait. What?"

Laughing, Leonardo stood up, placing an arm around his brother. "Look Donnie. In the beginning I was a little worried about her coming into our lives, and yes, it was weird to see my little brother in love and even weirder to see a human in love with him, but the truth is, she's wonderful. She's hard working, she's caring, she's trust worthy, she makes you happy and some how, she keeps Raph from being a total asshole. I have to admit it, she's amazing and has proven time and time again that she deserves to be a part of this team and this family."

Donatello smiled as he stood up straight. "So um. Do you think it would be okay if I asked her to move in with us. You know, permanently?"

"Are you asking me if I think she'd do it, or if it's okay?"

With a shrug, Donatello stepped away from his brother. "Both, I guess."

Leonardo paused for a moment, allowing himself time to think before he answered.. "I honestly don't know what she would say if you were to ask her, but I do think it's a good idea to bring her down here. That way we can keep an eye on her to keep her safe, and it might be fun to have a sister hanging out around the place."

Donatello hugged his brother, something that he rarely ever did, a giant smile spreading like wildfire across his face. "Thanks, Leo." Leonardo patted his shell hugging Donnie back. "There is one more thing I would like to get your help with," Donatello said, pulling away from his brother. "April and Casey let me in on a little secret about Becky and there's something I really want to do for her."

Confusion covered his face as he looked at his brother. "What's that?"

Donatello pulled his workshop door closed to keep out any eavesdroppers as he filled his brother in on the news. Leonardo quickly agreed to help and the two set up a plan.


	15. Chapter 15

The next week flew by quickly, but quietly with still no sign of the foot. Michelangelo's bruises were completely healed, Becky and Raphael were back to having almost nightly talks in their secret spot, and Leonardo and Donatello were quietly sneaking around at night but were careful not to let anyone else see what they were doing. Everything seemed perfect with Becky spending more time down in the sewers and less time in her own apartment, and Donatello grew more and more anxious to ask her to move in with him.

Then, on the night before their six month anniversary, Becky didn't show up for their scheduled date and refused to answer her phone. Terrified that the foot had finally come out of hiding and that something had happened to her, Donatello ran to his workshop in panic when her phone went to voice-mail for the twenty-seventh time. As he scanned the monitors, relief flooded over him when he saw Becky sitting on her couch. Worry quickly took over his relief when he noticed the boxes of empty facial tissues around her and her shoulders rising and falling in a bought of tears.

Pulling his phone from the loop on his belt, he texted her a quick "_hey, are you okay?_" message. He watched on the screen as she reached for her phone and read the message. He saw her type a response and waited for his phone to vibrate. _"Not really. Got bad news today. Sorry for missing our date." _He watched over the screen as she put the phone back down on the table and lay down on the couch. Quickly sending another text, he saw her phone vibrate across the table, but she didn't pick it up. Waiting impatiently, fear setting in that he had done something wrong, he was thankful when she did finally sit back up and respond with _"I love you too, Donnie. Come by in the morning and I'll tell you everything."_

Staying by the monitors the entire night so that she wasn't completely alone, Donatello watched as she fell asleep on the couch, her eyes stained with tears. Falling asleep on the monitors, he awoke the next morning to find her still asleep on the couch. Rubbing the back of his neck to try to massage out the stiffness, he stood up to make his way topside to her apartment after a quick conversation with Leonardo to go ahead with their plans.

Donatello pulled the key out of his belt, letting himself into the apartment. As he closed the door behind him, Becky walked out of the kitchen, holding a large bowl and spoon in her hands, happy to see that the window was no longer the turtle's only way into her apartment.

"What are you doing?" Donnie asked, sitting on the bar stool at the counter.

"Baking," she replied. Heading back to the kitchen, she reached under the counter to pull out her mixer.

A frown creased his face. He, and the rest of his brothers, knew that if she were baking, it could only mean bad news. "What's wrong, Becky?"

Releasing a sigh, Becky placed the mixer on the counter. "I kinda lost my job today. Well I mean, yesterday but it started today."

Donatello's jaw dropped. "What? How? Why? What?!"

A small smile crossed her face as she giggled as his reaction. "Budget cuts. My job was one of the first to go. I mean, I kinda knew it was coming, but I wasn't expecting it to happen today of all days. I mean, I guess it is kind of a nice gift since this gives me more time to write and April has already told me she and Casey are willing to waive the rent until I can get a new job. A silver lining with new beginnings I guess."

She pulled out flour and sugar before searching for the measuring cups in the drawers. Not turning around, she heard Donatello shift in his seat and clear his throat.

"New beginnings, huh?" Donatello said. Pulling himself to his feet, he decided to take a chance. Now was as good a time as any, right? Walking around the counter, he grabbed Becky's shoulders, turning her around to face him. "Since you are already making changes, how about we make one more?"

Becky raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, since you don't have your day job and won't have to be topside so much, why don't you move in with me?" He stared straight into her eyes, past the questioning look on her face. "We've been together for awhile now, and you spend a lot of time down there anyway. Why not make it official?"

"Move in together?" she asked. Her voice was soft and unsure.

Donatello shrugged, doing his best to stay cool while on the inside he feared he would pas out from nerves. Mentally preparing himself for another barrage of anger that still haunted him from the last time they'd had this conversation, he forced himself to keep going. "It's what a human couple would do, right?"

Slowly nodding her head as his words sunk into her mind, she absently let the measuring cup fall from her hand, falling onto the vinyl flooring. "Well, maybe depending on the couple," she said. She turned her head away from him, looking around her kitchen. She'd been down this road before, moving in with a guy and it had led to heartache. But Donatello wasn't Scott and she couldn't make him pay for Scott's mistakes. It wasn't fair to any of them. Then again, giving up the freedom of her apartment, the sunlight and fresh air of the city and her life wasn't something she could decide on a whim. Especially when she was still trying to figure out what to do for a new job. "I'm going to need some time to think about it."

Donatello nodded, hugging her. "Take all the time you need."

Her mind raced with questions, but she shoved them aside. She would think about all of this later and try to make sense of it when her mind wasn't so clouded. For now, she was in the arms of the man she loved and she wasn't going to let worry and logic ruin the moment. Not today.

Clearing his throat, Donatello released his hold on her, and she whimpered softly as he let her go. He gently kissed the top of her forehead and walked toward the front door. "I'm going to need you to forget about the baking for a little while and come with me."

Turning her head in confusion, she closed the drawer and followed him. "What's going on?" she asked as he lead her down the hall to April's place. He remained silent as he pushed April's door open and flipped on the light switch.

"Surprise!" April, Casey, Splinter and the turtles yelled from their spot underneath a giant banner with the words Happy Birthday painted in blue.

Becky's mouth gaped open in surprise, shock and happiness. She stumbled a little further into the room, thankful that Donatello's arm caught her before she was able to fall. Her friends gathered around her holding on to gifts while Michelangelo came out of the kitchen carefully balancing a giant cake on his arms.

"How did you guys know?" she asked, taking in everything all at once. "I never mentioned my birthday to any of you."

"April told us," Leonardo said, grabbing her free arm. He helped Donatello lead her to the couch and forced her to sit down. "The next few hours are all about you."

"And a little for us," Michelangelo said, cautiously setting the cake on the table in front of her. "We've never been to a birthday party before."

Her friends gathered around her again, covering her with hugs. "This is such a wonderful surprise," she said as her friends started pushing wrapped boxes and gift bags in her direction. With a smile, she ripped the paper off of the first box, excited to have a real birthday for the first time in years.

Looking around the room, she smiled at the discarded wrapping paper, plates with cake crumbs and the joy radiating from her friends. The gifts had been perfect, plenty of notebooks and pens for writing from Splinter, a mixed cd of her favorite songs from Raphael, a beach ball and home made cake from Michelangelo, a book on meditation and candles from Leonardo, a set of earrings from April and Casey and a bracelet with a turtle shaped charm that matched her necklace from Donatello. She was showered with love and hope for her birthday, which was exactly what she needed. Looking around at her friends once more, she realized just how much she loved each and every one of them, and knew just how much they loved her in return. What more could any girl ask for?

Then, like a ton of bricks, Donatello's question from her earlier came back to her. Excusing herself, she made her way out to the balcony for a little quiet. Looking up toward the sky looking for answers, she knew that she would never find them int the smog filled view. She was truly on her own on this one.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Raphael's voice called from the window. She didn't turn around, but could feel his presence as he stood behind her.

"Donnie asked me to move in with him."

Raphael took her hand in his, moving right beside her. She looked over at him, noting the look of hope on his face. "I know," he replied. "If it helps, we all think it's a great idea. Even Leo, and you know we never agree on anything."

Laughing, she turned and hugged her friend. "You really think I should?"

Raphael pulled away from her, leaning against the building. "It's not a matter of what I think or even what Donnie thinks. It's what you think." She shot him a strange look. "Yeah, I know. I'm not usually the one to be giving such insightful advice, am I?"

"Or the type to use words like insightful," she responded. "Raphy dear, are you maturing?"

"Hell no."

She laughed again, not noticing that Donatello had joined them on the balcony. "You have such a pretty laugh," he said, causing her to turn around. "I do hope we hear more of it." Taking her hand in his, he placed the bracelet he had made for her around her wrist and clasped it closed. With clumsy fingers, he opened the locket for her, revealing a small picture of all four of the turtles and Splinter. "I hope you don't mind, but I didn't leave this one empty."

Taking the locket into her own hand, she admired the photo of her friends. Her family. "It's beautiful Donnie. I really do love it."

"I love you," he said.

Raphael groaned. "If you two are going to get all lovey dovey mushy, I'm outta here."

Becky ignored him. "I love you, too."

Raph groaned again and made his way back into the apartment. Donatello and Becky ignored him, instead taking his exit as an invitation to start kissing. Rolling his eyes, he bee-lined for the couch, falling onto it. Grabbing another piece of cake, he looked out the window to see his brother and best friend cuddling on the balcony. He quickly put the cake back on the table, sure if he ate it, he would be sick.

Turning away from the all too happy couple on the balcony, he reminded himself that he was in agreement with his brothers that Becky should live down in the sewers with them, not only to bring her closer to each of their lives, but also to protect her.

And yes, selfishly he'd wanted her closer to be able to talk to and spend more time with. Other than Michelangelo and Casey, she was the only one in the world he could really talk to and not feel unimportant. Donatello was always using scientific words that he didn't really understand, Leonardo was constantly blabbering about family and honor and usually disagreeing with any thought Raphael ever had and making a habit out of pointing out the flaws in his plans. Michelangelo was easy to talk to but most of their conversations centered around pizza, comic books and movies. Talks with Becky were deeper, meaningful and much more fun. He could be himself around her, angry or happy, and she never judged him or treated him like a whiny brat. Even when he was so obviously being one. She was sarcastic and witty and best of all, she didn't put up with his crap and would happily call him on it. But in a nice way. She was his absolute best friend. He didn't want anything to happen to her.

Glancing back out the window, he watched Becky sit next to Donatello, her head resting on his chest. A small tinge of jealousy ran through him and he wondered if having her living with them, knowing she was safe would be enough to keep him from wanting to punch something anytime he saw her with his brother. Looking at the smile on her face, he knew he would have to try. He also reminded himself that if things were getting too hard to take, Leonardo was always available for sparring practice.

"Whatcha grinding on so hard?" Michelangelo asked.

Raphael looked up at his brother, instantly focusing in on the apron around his waist. "Nuttin'. Why do you look like a housewife?"

Michelangelo struck a pose before grabbing the remaing cake plates from the table. "I'm helping April with the dishes and wanted to look the part."

Raphael rolled his eyes as he handed Michelangelo his plate. "You're weird Bro."

"We all need a little weird in our lives."

"YES!" Donatello's yell of excitement caught all of the attentions. Raphael looked out the window in time to watch Donatello pick up Becky and swing her around in circles. Putting her back on her feet, he then clasped her hand, before rushing back through the window into the apartment. Turning back around, Donatello reached out to help Becky through the window while the others came running into the room.

"What's going on?" Leonardo asked, placing the dish towel in his hand down on the counter.

Donatello beamed as he looked around as his family. "She agreed to move in with us!" he yelled. Once again Becky was surrounded by her loving friends. She looked above the crowd towards Raphael. He flashed her a sincere smile before exiting the apartment and heading back to the sewer den. Though he was happy, he was ready to be alone for a little while knowing that his brother had the girl and he had nothing but a broken heart.


	16. Chapter 16

In a matter of days, the sewer den was filled with empty boxes from Becky's belongings. Though it was assumed that she and Donnie would share a bedroom, she decided she wanted to have her own space and asked to occupy the unused room next to Donatello's. Though she figured it would mostly become a writing office, she did move her bed in to the room along with her clothes and most of her personal belongings, despite Donatello's protests.

Raphael was exceptionally happy with the idea of Becky having her own room. Though he loved his brother and wanted him to be happy, there was still some jealousy in him that Donnie had Becky. Not that he disagreed with them being a couple. Donnie was by far more stable as a boyfriend, and Becky seemed to genuinely love him. But there were times, such as now, when Raph would rewind back to the few times he had kissed Becky He flashed back to times when he thought for even just a glimmer of a second that she could be his. But something had always stopped him, kept him from honestly trying.

"Raphael," Splinter's voice cut through his thoughts. "You are late for training. Again. Get your shell into the dojo now."

"Yes Master." Raphael sauntered into the dojo, watching as his brothers finished their warm up routines.

Dropping to the ground, he began his own stretching, taking a moment to glance around the dojo. Something seemed off about today's daily training exercises. He noticed Master Splinter in the back of the room, a clumsy bo in the air. That was odd for Splinter who had such great form. Then, he noticed Splinter step away, but the bo stayed in the air. It was still a moment later before Raph's brain registered that Becky was the one holding the bo staff.

As he looked at her, she caught her gaze. He jumped up to walk towards her, pointing at the bo. Smiling sheepishly, she dropped the bo on her foot, releasing a quiet expletive. "Splinter and I agreed that a sharp weapon would be a disaster in the making, and I knew if I even looked at the nun-chucks I'd end up hitting myself in the face. I figured a round piece of wood would be the less likely to kill me." She looked down at her foot. "I may have been wrong."

Raph laughed, picking the bo up for her and handing it back to her. "Smart bet," he agreed.

"Raphael!" Splinter's voice bellowed again. "You are working with Leonardo today."

Raph sighed as Becky stifled a giggle. She watched as Leo raised his swords and almost immediately dropped Raph to his shell. The belief that turtles couldn't get up off of their backs was proven untrue with her friends. She watched as Raph effortlessly jumped back to his feet, pulling his sais from his belt and charging his brother.

Donnie came up to her, blocking the view of the feuding brothers. "Master Splinter is working with Mikey today so I came over here to help you."

"I don't have a clue what I'm doing," she admitted, holding the staff in her hands again.

"It's all about balance," he assured her. Coming up behind her, he put his arms around her helping her hold the staff straight in her hands. "First, you have to find the balance point." He slid her hands further apart, helping her better balance the stick in her hand. His breath caught the side of her neck as he spoke, sending a tingling sensation down her spine. "Don't stand straight up. It's best to have your feet apart just a little. Not too much or you won't be able to move." Using his foot against her ankles, he helped her find a comfortable stance.

A warm feeling washed over him as he forced himself not to start kissing her neck. Master Splinter was adamant about their training and fooling around in any sense could get them both in trouble. When he was asked to help Becky learn to use a weapon, he had jumped at the chance. He hadn't thought that working so closely to her, he would also have to work on self-discipline and keep their time together platonic. A lesson he was sure Splinter had well thought out.

As soon as practice was dismissed, Donnie swooped Becky up in his arms and carried her swiftly to his room. Locking the door behind him, he placed Becky on her feet, turning her so that she was facing him. Kissing her, he moved them closer to his bed.

"You looked great out there today," he assured her, setting the dimmer on the light down low. "You really know how to handle a staff."

She grinned as she reached for him. "You ain't seen nothing yet," she giggled. She pulled him closer and kissed him, her entire body on fire from the hour long practice that seemed more like foreplay. Their hands were all over each other and it took only moments for him to undress her and push her against the bed. His mouth kissed along her neck as she ran her fingers up and down his arms. Wrapping her legs around his waist, Donnie had just enough thought to shut the lights off completely before finding himself captured in her embrace.

"Do you think it's wise of Master Splinter to have Becky training to be a ninja?" Mikey asked his brothers.

Raph was sprawled out on the couch, thankful that Donnie's room was sound proof after the way he and Becky had rushed in there after their dismissal. He didn't even mind being distracted by Leo sitting beside him, sharpening his katanas, a sound that usually drove Raph mad. "I think it's more for self-defense then to be a ninja." Raph's voice was matter-of-fact but on the inside, he had to admit he wasn't completely sure of his sensei's motives.

"Well, he did have a vision that it was something he needed to do. And you know how accurate his visions are. I'm sure there's a reason for her training." Leo dropped the sharpening stone, placing the sword back in it's sheath.

Mikey thumped onto the couch, sitting on Raph's feet. Raph growled, kicking Mikey to the floor. "I just worry about her," Mikey admitted. "Even she says that she's not very coordinated. What if she ends up hurting herself?"

Raph kicked his brother again, this time in the back of the head. "Well numb-skull. If you can be trusted with a weapon, I'm sure Becky will be just fine. I mean, you haven't killed yourself yet, have you."

Mikey, moving out of Raph's reach, shrugged in agreement. "I suppose."

"Now, I do think that Donnie is the wrong partner for her," Leo commented, thinking out loud. "She needs someone a little less likely to hit on her."

"Guess that leaves Raph out," Mikey laughed. Raph's leg stretched out to kick him again, but Mikey had managed to get far enough away that he couldn't quite reach him. Mikey stuck his tongue out at him, and was only mildly aware of the sai being thrown towards him until it whistled by his ear.

Leo ignored his brothers. "Actually, I was thinking I might work with her one on one for a little while. Help her with meditation and balance. It would give me a chance to work more on my teaching skills."

"Professor Leo? Nah, that doesn't sound right." Mikey decided. "Now, Professor Mikey has a nice ring to it."

"No," his brothers chorused before taking off for their rooms, leaving Mikey alone.

Well after the sun had set, the lights of the dojo burned bright. Standing alone in the middle of the room, Becky held the bo staff in her hands, trying to remember the stance that Donnie had tried to show her earlier that day. It had been difficult to concentrate on what he was telling her, and she realized if she was ever going to get the hang of holding the weapon, she would have to do it without him around.

Holding the staff in the air, she attempted to push all thoughts of Donnie aside and concentrate solely on the bo in her hands. Closing her eyes, she let her own natural instincts take over. She moved her hands and the bo above her head in a sweeping motion. Between the loud thump as she hit something and the low curse from the something she hit, her eyes snapped open. Raph kneeled down beside her, his hand on the back of his head from where she had gone at him pinata style.

"Oh my gosh, Raph I am so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That'll teach me not to sneak up on you when you're holding a weapon though."

"No it won't," she replied. He turned his face up at her before caving and nodding in agreement. "What are you doing in here?" she asked.

Raph made his way back up to his feet. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing."

Becky held the bo up in front of her. "I'm trying to get the hang of this thing. But, as you can see, I'm failing miserably."

Raph took the bo from her, holding it in his own hands. He'd never been one for the staff as a weapon, but he understood why Master Splinter had thought it was the best choice for her. "Well, for one thing," he said, walking the bo towards the back wall and placing it next to a row of others on the wall, "this bo is too long for you. You need one a little shorter, so that it goes just an inch or two above your head." He looked over the rack on the wall before deciding on the one in the middle.

Handing the stick to her, he watched as she placed it on the ground next to her to measure. Shrugging her shoulders, she widened her stance and held the bo in front of her. She twirled it a few times smiling as she didn't drop it. Feeling a bit full of herself, she took a few swings away from Raph then twirled her entire body around while tossing the bo back and forth between her hands. She looked up at Raph to see him smiling at her. The grin on her face widened as she twirled the staff one more time, losing her grip and smacking it right into her knee. "Damn," she cursed as the bo fell to the ground and both of her hands went for her knee. "Teach me to get too cocky."

"No it won't," Raph replied with a laugh. She smiled up at him and he knew she agreed with him. "Do I need to go get some ice for your knee?"

She moved her hands out of the way, pulled her pant leg up and looked at her knee. She hadn't managed to crack the skin so there was no blood, though she assumed a nice bruise would be there by early morning. "No, I'm good. What's a few bruises when learning the art of ninjitsu right?"

Raph chuckled, picking up the staff and tossed it back to her. "That's my girl. Now, try that again, this time keeping your eye on the staff and not on my sexy body." Laughing, she caught the staff and instantly started twirling it around again. "Now, close your eyes," Raph instructed. "Try to feel your surroundings." She did as she was told, slowing her pace. "Good, now concentrate on where the staff is and try tossing it between your hands like you did before. Keep those eyes closed." His voice was soft, but strict as he called out to her.

He watched in silence as she took in a few deep breaths and twirled the staff around again. "Speed up a little, just like you did when your eyes were open. I know you can do this." Once again she followed his instructions, quickening her pace, a look of sheer determination on her face. "Good. Keep going."

Waiting for her to turn her back to him again, he silently pulled one of his sai from his belt, holding it up to strike toward her neck, having absolutely no intention of actually making contact with her skin. He watched as she held tight onto the bo in her hand, perked her ear up in his direction and caught the sai with her bo, knocking it out of Raph's hand.

She heard the clank of the sai as it hit the ground and opened her eyes. Before her was a shocked Raphael staring straight at her with his mouth wide open in surprise. Her eyes left his gaze and moved down to the sai next to his foot. "How did you do that?" he asked, his voice a mixture of confusion and amazement.

"I don't know," she replied. "I just... felt it."

"That was excellent work my child," Splinter said from the doorway. Both Raphael and Becky turned their heads in their Sensei's direction. His gaze was locked on Becky, a look of approval on his face. "And now you both see why I chose this as your first weapon to master. You my dear, are a natural." He turned toward his son in admiration. "And my son, I see your leadership skills are vastly improving. I believe from now on you will be the one to work with Becky on her training. I am quite proud of both of you."

"Thank you Master Splinter," the two chorused. They bowed in his direction. With a slight bow in return, Splinter turned back through the doorway, closing them both into the dojo once more.

"Something tells me Leo is gonna be pissed," Becky said, grabbing the bo in her hands once more. "I heard him ask Splinter to be my instructor."

Raph huffed. "Yeah, who's the leader now?" Becky raised an eyebrow at him but couldn't contain the laughter. Unable to keep himself from saying it, he looked at her. "I'm in charge now, Bitch," he said, a smile creeping over his face. Becky laughed again shaking her head. "Now, I wanna see you swing that bo like there's no tomorrow."

"You keep going on like that and I'm gonna knock you out so you sleep through tomorrow," she replied, the smile still planted on her lips. She took a mock swing in his direction, but went further than she intended to. He easily caught the bo in his hands, pulling it toward him then quickly thrusting it back in her direction. The motion knocked her onto the mat and he was quickly on top of her, pinning her shoulders to the ground. The smile on her face faded when she saw the hungry look in his eyes. As he leaned down toward her to kiss her, she pushed him away with her hands and stumbled back up to her feet. "I think that's enough practice for tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

She rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Raph rolled over on to his shell to stare up at the ceiling. "Way to go moron. The first day of class and you already sexually harassed your student."

Deciding not to risk waking Donnie, Becky walked into her room. Turning the laptop on, she pulled her robe around her to try to warm up. It was pointless since she knew full well the shivers running over her body were not from the chill in the sewers but instead from what had almost just happened. Raph was her friend, her best friend in fact and she knew that the feelings she had for him were not true feelings like she had for Donnie. Her love for Donnie was pure and genuine and real. With Raph, the feelings were always lustful, just like any feelings a good girl had for a bad boy. What was it about the bad boys that made girls' thoughts all wonky?

Sitting at her computer, she pulled up a new word document and started writing about two characters modeled after herself and Raphael, only this time they were both humans. After writing a steamy scene that made her blush, just to get it out of her system, she saved the document. Turning the computer off, she climbed into her bed. It wasn't until the next morning that she realized it was a mistake to go straight to bed after writing her story as her dreams were filled with lusty scenes of her and Raph.

A soft knock came from her door followed by Donatello peeking through the cracked door. "Is it all right if I come in?"

She pulled the covers up around her, smiling at him. "Of course."

Donnie pushed the door open, letting himself in. "I heard about last night. In fact, Raph won't shut up about it." Becky's cheeks reddened. She thought about pulling the covers over her head but figured she would have to face him sooner or later and it would be best to do it now. "I'm just sorry I wasn't good enough for you."

"What the hell are you talking about, Donnie? You are more than enough for me. I love you, you know that."

He sat on the bed next to her taking her hands in his. "I love you too. Look on the bright said, Raph said, you are a total natural. Even Master Splinter was gushing about it."

Becky looked at him flabbergasted. "Splinter knows?"

"Well yeah. Raph said he walked in on you guys and saw everything. I'm proud of you Becky. It took me months of training to do what you did last night!"

A huge sigh of relief came out of her as she began to laugh nervously. "You're talking about me knocking the sai out of Raph's hand, aren't you?"

Now it was Donnie's turned to be confused. "Yeah, what did you think I was talking about?"

Becky shook her head, squeezing his hands. "Nothing. It was just a night of weird dreams. I wasn't really clear of anything just then," she lied.

Donnie squeezed her hands back. "Well then I think tonight you need to come back to our bed and spend the night with me. I'll keep the bad dreams away." He pulled her closer to him. "That's what I'm here for you know." She smiled, feeling even worse about the night before, even with the nagging voice in her own head yelling at her that nothing had happened and she had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. She had done the right thing and pushed Raph away.


End file.
